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An Early Look at the Trailer for "21" - Film About MIT Cardcounting Team

triggerstreet.com — The new trailer for the film "21" which is based on the best-selling book "Bringing Down The House" by Ben Mezrich, a fact-based story about a group of MIT students who learn to count cards and take Vegas for millions. Starring Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, and Lawrence Fishburne, written by Allan Loeb and directed by Robert Luketic.

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  • Kidman13, on 11/18/2007, -0/+18Yahoo HD
    http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809834187/video/503 ...
  • neocr0n, on 11/18/2007, -4/+42I'm sold at Kevin Spacey.
  • Rikushix, on 11/18/2007, -2/+8I read the book, I can't wait for this movie to come out.
  • wisammy, on 11/18/2007, -4/+70I'm sure the movie and what happened in real life are very very similar. I mean nerds are totally hooking up with hot babes.
    • ferrariman60, on 11/18/2007, -0/+28Hey man, if the nerds have money.........
    • ruddy, on 11/18/2007, -1/+9*rich* nerds hook up with whoever they want. poor nerd... well, you dont wanna be them
    • Taikomochi, on 11/18/2007, -1/+2Yes, the book and real life are not exactly in tandem with each other. I've heard another team member grumbling about writing their own book, but of course due to its need to be more realistic, wouldn't sell nearly as well.
    • thuang513, on 11/18/2007, -1/+14the real question is why was there a hot chick at MIT in the first place?
    • mvanhorn, on 11/18/2007, -1/+3If I remember correctly I think the blonde is a cheerleader for the cowboys that was hooking up with the main character in the book.. Ever heard of this idea of women being attracted to money?
    • RealJimShady, on 11/18/2007, -0/+2Many years ago I read an article which I believe has inspired the book/movie. And from memory, the hot women actually played a central role in their whole scam.
  • schwit, on 11/18/2007, -0/+14Reenactments of this story have been on various cable channels for years.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Vegas
  • thirty6chambers, on 11/18/2007, -7/+2Didn't they already make a movie about this not too long ago?
    • joshuaer, on 11/18/2007, -1/+4You are thinking of the documentary Breaking Vegas, which recreated allot of the MIT story and has some interviews with some of them.
      http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id= ...

      but documentary and Based on are 2 different things!
      • thirty6chambers, on 11/18/2007, -2/+0Uh...no. I specifically said movie, not documentary. From what I can remember of that movie, the trailer for 21 has the same plot (guy needs money to pay for school, guy has sex with the girl on the team, the team go against their instructor) I think it was MTV films that made it but I can't seem to find any information on the movie.
        • RealJimShady, on 11/18/2007, -0/+2I think you're talking about a documentry. There was a documentry on this topic.
    • RichSPK, on 11/18/2007, -1/+1I thought so, too, and I thought it was a theatrical release, not an A&E documentary. I lent the book to a co-worker, but I think it says something on the cover about being the basis for a big movie, and I got the book a few years ago. Incidentally, most of the characters in the book are Asian, but most of the movie cast looks to be white. It shouldn't be a big deal, but I wonder why they did that?
      • probrian, on 11/18/2007, -2/+3to give hope to the average whitey that they too can go to MIT and count cards for tuition.
    • thirty6chambers, on 11/18/2007, -3/+1I found it! It's called The Last Casino
      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419909/
    • thirty6chambers, on 11/18/2007, -4/+2I don't know why people are digging me down but here's the movie I was talking about
      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419909/
      It looks like the same movie from I remember and what I can tell from the trailers.
    • jpop, on 11/19/2007, -1/+2Undoubtably. Hollywood has re-make and sequalitis of the brain.
  • Lax32, on 11/18/2007, -10/+2My old philosophy teacher used to teach at Columbia and did lots of theoretical math stuff there. He said one year a bunch of his grad students went to vegas and used some ridiculously advanced probability and ended up cleaning out a couple of casinos.
  • stellamaris, on 11/18/2007, -0/+21Smart people are so attractive!
  • Laughto, on 11/18/2007, -3/+7I thought Kevin Spacey quit acting? A third time, I mean.
    • neocr0n, on 11/18/2007, -0/+9He never quit he just made a decision to do more theater work instead of movies.
  • tjasond, on 11/18/2007, -0/+13Here's a Wired article about the original story. Fascinating stuff:
    http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/vegas.htm ...
  • terrya64, on 11/18/2007, -7/+3After seeing the cable special Masterminds about this, I have no interest in the movie.
    • morph988, on 11/19/2007, -0/+2the masterminds version was so much better
  • philthetechie, on 11/18/2007, -3/+3Looks good, wish i could do that
  • chillmandan, on 11/18/2007, -2/+24The true story is incredible, I can't wait to see how Hollywood is going to screw it up!
  • ItsMyWii, on 11/18/2007, -1/+41WTF Morpheus get out of the Matrix.
    • wrongonce, on 11/19/2007, -0/+4Now looking for the (twenty) one.

      Sorry, in advance.
  • redfan, on 11/18/2007, -1/+6Whoa, I liked this book. Didn't know they were doing a movie. Looking forward to it.
  • TheMu, on 11/18/2007, -1/+6Sweet, I loved the book and I can't wait for the movie.
  • CroMag, on 11/18/2007, -9/+17Christ. Every movie now looks like a Mountain Dew commercial starring Dawson's Creek.

    That looks AWFUL.
  • reb42, on 11/18/2007, -7/+4Will there also be a faith-based version?
  • hummeth, on 11/18/2007, -1/+3The book was good. I recommend it as a quick easy read.
  • Fourbin, on 11/18/2007, -2/+6I seriously enjoyed this book a lot and I have been eagerly awaiting a film version to come out. Too bad they made such an exciting story look like an American Pie movie. I'm also pissed they used Spoon in the trailer, great song.
  • shiftt, on 11/18/2007, -1/+2Does anyone recognize the songs in the trailer? I'd like to know their names.
    • Chmura, on 11/18/2007, -0/+5The last one was The Doors - Break on Through
    • Narwaffle, on 11/18/2007, -1/+3First song was "My Mathematical Mind" by Spoon
      • spingk, on 11/18/2007, -0/+1I stand corrected. It had been a little while after seeing the trailer when I commented. I guess I should have rechecked.
    • spingk, on 11/18/2007, -2/+1The first was Spoon - The Beast and the Dragon, Adored
  • johntkucz, on 11/18/2007, -2/+3I saw the real MIT students who counted Vegas speak at my college in 04.
    • RealJimShady, on 11/19/2007, -0/+2did they have one of those auras?
  • kubedawg, on 11/18/2007, -10/+3If I could digg this more than once, I'd make a script so I'd continue digging it until I've dugg it 1337 times.

    This movie looks so BADASS! I will pay to see this in theaters.
  • sigginike90, on 11/18/2007, -7/+6This movie looks really really bad... Do you guys find this interesting? Are you retarded? The concept of card counting and the actual story or the book is interesting, this movie's obviously going to suck.
  • sleepless, on 11/18/2007, -3/+3Download the HD version here.

    http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?sid=493 ...
  • DjArcadian, on 11/18/2007, -8/+3I was into card counting once. Takes a lot of skill. I tried reading the book this is based on (forget the title) and it's a horrible book. I couldn't get past the first few chapters.
  • SpykerSpeed, on 11/18/2007, -4/+12I don't get why people hype the fact these were MIT students. It doesn't take a 4.0 Physics PHD student to figure out how to count cards in blackjack.
    • justburnin, on 11/18/2007, -5/+5what these kids did was far more advanced than just counting cards, they developed complicated patterns and theories to calculate exactly which cards would come out at what point based on the shoe size, etc. its actualy very advanced and complicated more than simply counting cards.
      • zmjone2992, on 11/18/2007, -2/+7not really....
      • Mark4483, on 11/18/2007, -1/+3yeah, the math they use it isn't anything harder than undergraduate probability and statistics. (after all, it is "only" a card game)
        What makes card counters amazing (no matter what school they are from) is how fast they are able to multitask counting cards, judge shoe sizes, "calculate" the proper bets and still look like they aren't cheating. I put calculate in quotes only because with the amount of practice they do everything is pretty much from memory.

        This stuff is all standard card counting technique. It was the TEAM effort which made it so successful.
    • fatdog789, on 11/18/2007, -2/+2Math was involved, not just memory. Or may they really are claiming that it takes a PhD from MIT to count cards well.
    • wrongonce, on 11/19/2007, -0/+4MIT grades on a 5.0 scale.
      4.0 would be a "B".

      Card counters weren't the brightest group from MIT, but they were very smart and daring.
      The guy that was running the whole thing was a bit creepy, as well.
    • RealJimShady, on 11/19/2007, -1/+3I hope you feel dumb now.
  • GhengisKhan, on 11/18/2007, -1/+4Discovery Channel documentary link (19 clips): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2XjtyGEB2w
  • TeeSeeJay, on 11/18/2007, -5/+2The book was a poorly written piece of trash (actual quote: "The two were best friends, cut from a similar mold"), but there's a story in there regardless. Let's hope that like Sideways, another poorly written piece of trash, this movie ends up worth watching.
  • vasyL, on 11/18/2007, -2/+3spacey makes it.

    a must see, i am sure
  • aj94109, on 11/18/2007, -4/+6 ***** that they changed the main guy in the movie to not Asian. That was a big part of the real story in the book.
    • Mark4483, on 11/18/2007, -1/+2Who could have played him? Hiro from heroes? Harold from Harold and Kumar go to white castle?
  • buba447, on 11/18/2007, -0/+4I hate trailers that step into the everything but the climax of the film. Yeesh.
    Definitely want to see the movie, but the trailer didn't leave much to the imagination.
  • DMCer, on 11/18/2007, -8/+3If he hasn't yet, he should. American Beauty sucked. This trailer looks stupidly unrealistic, especially for MIT nerds.
    • Slick50, on 11/18/2007, -1/+5I guess that's why it won the best picture oscar and he the best actor oscar because it sucked, huh?
  • QuantumAvatar, on 11/18/2007, -0/+4That guy doesnt look like a true MIT nerd but the movie looks good.
  • bizkit00, on 11/18/2007, -2/+3Well now, without much further ado, we happily present to you the trailer for 21
    in a tiiiiny little box
  • Nathrat, on 11/18/2007, -4/+1this was submitted days ago...
  • senatebuddy, on 11/18/2007, -3/+2already saw it on history channel
  • senatebuddy, on 11/18/2007, -4/+2already saw it on history channel
  • zarex, on 11/18/2007, -7/+3This is seriously exaggerated.
    1. It doesn't take any mathematical skill to count cards. The methods and techniques have been well known since the 1960's. It takes focus and discipline, but the whole math-genius angle is silly.
    2. They really didn't make that much money overall. A few million after several years, divided among a large group of people? They would have done much better at a startup, or even just regular jobs.
    3. Card counting gives a small edge that accrues over many, many hands. There are no more brilliant winning streaks than there are brilliant losing streaks.
    Might be good entertainment, but let's remember this is pure hollywood.
    • Mark4483, on 11/18/2007, -0/+4They had a TEAM, which makes a huge difference. It's true that knowing the count gives a small edge but ONLY playing when the count is high - and adjusting your bet accordingly - is what makes the blackjack teams do so well. That and they are harder for the casinos to spot.

      And you're right about not having to be a math genius, it just takes tons and tons of practice.
      • zarex, on 11/18/2007, -1/+1Having a team definitely helps, but it's hardly unique to this group. Blackjack teams have been around for decades, operating just like these guys. It just the MIT/math angle which makes it interesting to the public, but it's really just hollywood fantasy here.
  • piratebr0adcast, on 11/18/2007, -0/+4I live in Boston and spend alot of ime in Cambridge. Im looking forward to seeing exterior shots. Oh, and a Kate Bosworth nude scene
    wouldnt be bad either....
  • DFunk1132, on 11/19/2007, -0/+4dugg because they filmed some of it at my school (BU)
  • morph988, on 11/19/2007, -3/+0this movie has already been done. Besides, it looks like the totally ***** up the story with hot chicks and dumb ***** that probably never happened.
  • iblaine, on 11/19/2007, -0/+3great story, cool book. Can't wait to see the movie.
  • MagicBastard, on 11/20/2007, -0/+1This is one of my favorite books. Hollywood will probably screw up the movie, but Spacey and Fishbourne are two of my favorites. I'll be there opening weekend. I get to Vegas once or twice a year, when I'm there, I can't help but wonder if the guy next to me is part of a team like this. If you read this book, check out Mezrich's other book on the MIT team, Busting Vegas.
  • musicdies, on 11/20/2007, -0/+0Cool trailer! Hot and spicy and quick paced. Looks like a damn good movie and "Break on Through" is one of the best songs ever made. It works. If only I was human and could type in the image to post this.
  • thwart, on 03/14/2008, -0/+0Kate Bosworth is hot. Like here... nsfw http://www.wileypics.com/images/pics/katebosworth. ...
  • shirazim, on 03/19/2008, -0/+0Read more about blackjack card-counting and judge for yourself whether any old dude could do it. You can read more about the movie and the MIT Blackjack Team at this site: http://www.number1in21.com
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