21
Based on a true story, this slick Vegas drama follows six gifted students as
they hustle a casino. Meet Ben Campbell, a shy and super-brainy if skint
M.I.T. student needing to find a way to pay his astronomical tuition fees,
poor lamb. He falls in with a group of kids in the same situation who head
to the capital of gambling every weekend to try their luck on the blackjack
tables. Using an elaborate system of hand signals the team are soon well
on their way to beating the casino system, lucky sods. Once the bucks start
rolling in, though, Ben is sucked in, wanting to win more and more to keep
his Vegas lifestyle and the attentions of foxy team mate Jill (Kate Bosworth).
Unlike the usual casino heist movies this one involves none of the expected
criminal caper, yet all of the glamour and with excellent casting and the
added intrigue of being true. Producer Kevin Spacey (who also stars as an
unorthodox maths professor, Micky Rosa, and leader of their pack) has created
a winner.
Verdict: House wins
In Bruges
If you like violent hitman movies, this’ll be right up your blood-stained
street. Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes star as two Irish hit-men causing a commotion
in the sleepy Belgian town of Bruges. Hiding out after the pretty unsuccessful
results of Farrell’s first job, the two sensitive souls question the morals
of their profession in a dialogue-heavy film with a surprising number of laughs.
Academy Award winner Martin McDonagh has written a buddy movie full-to-bursting
with intelligence and charm while Farrell and Fiennes have a fantastic onscreen
chemistry.
Verdict: An unexpected, darkly-comic gem
Susie Wild is our screen queen