This movie opened in the States 3 weeks ago and has been hanging in at the Box Office steadily every weekend since.  However it just opened in the UK this weekend with the preview Wednesday. Seems the critics don’t like it that much and after seeing it I understand why. It was endurable and I thought the acting was reasonable on reflection like in a good tv movie. But the writing I think let them down.

So what don’t you know about it by now? It was based on a true story, and in this case how an MIT student goes to Vegas with a group of fellow students and a lecturer to count cards at Blackjack and cover the cost of being admitted to Harvard Medical school. I don’t think anyone who gets admitted to Harvard actually has to worry about finances based on everything I have read but ok.

The film is pitched to college students who can fantasize about having a double life wearing some very nice clothes and going to some really ‘cool’ parties. Then there is the morality element, the dubious professor, the girl, the friends abandoned for gold and glory.

Jim Sturgess in the lead was in ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ as Gerorge Boleyn.  Aaron Yoo, Liza Shapira and Jacob Pitts as precocious high achieving students in supporting rolls. Jill Bosworth is the love interest. Josh Gad and Sam Golzari were very funny as the awkward geek friends. Lawrence Fishburne adds a little Matrix as the Vegas enforcer. Oh and of course Kevin Spacey as the card shark professor.