Inspired by a true story, 21 mixes Las Vegas casino wheeling and dealing with college-kid angst. Crafty MIT professor Micky Rosa (Spacey) trains brainiac students to count cards and then flies them out to Vegas to raid the blackjack tables between classes. At first they rake in a bundle, but then catch the unwanted attention of tough-guy security chief, Cole Williams (Fishburne). Super math genius Ben Campbell (Sturgess) originally joins the ring in order to come up with the 300,000 he needs for tuition money, but hes also gaga over the rings resident babe, Jill (Bosworth). When he finds out Professor Rosa hasnt been dealing entirely from a straight deck, Bens high-end shopping spree dreams turn sour. Looking for a way to pay his college tuition at M.I.T., a student joins a statistics professor and other students in learning the tricks to breaking the casinos in Las Vegas.
