Some movies deal with real-life situations that are meant to intrigue and fascinate. Smaller stories, or stories that have never had the type of spotlight that Hollywood thought they deserved. But sometimes (wait for it) Hollywood sensationalizes or changes the plot to fit their narrative.
One of these movies was the 2008 movie 21—a film based on a book based on a sensational story. However, the film made some poor casting choices, and since its release, it has garnered more attention for its faults than for its triumphs.
21 and Bringing Down the House
The film 21 was based on a book by Ben Mezrich called Bringing Down the House. It tells the (semi) true story of an MIT student named Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) who joins the blackjack team led by Professor Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey). The team has such a high level of intelligence and skill that they begin making regular trips to Las Vegas. In Vegas, they use their abilities at card counting to bilk the casinos out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Problems arise when they start getting noticed, and their grades start declining due to spending so much time on this extracurricular activity. There is infighting, double-crosses, and people getting their asses handed to them by casino security. The film is fun but would not be terribly memorable if not for the sideshow that followed.
Hollywood Whitewashing and Twisted Reality
One of the first things that came up following the film’s premiere was the use of white actors to portray Asian-American parts. In the book Bringing Down the House, many of the main student characters from MIT were of Asian descent, and the film instead decided to cast Kate Bosworth, Michael Pitts, and Josh Gad in three main roles. The film did have one Asian-American actor, Aaron Yoo (The Tomorrow People). It also had Jeff Ma, the real person on…
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