On DVD: 21

The best stories are the ones where you can really identify with the main character on a deep, personal level. So it should some as no surprise that the film 21, about an MIT math whiz who desperately needs $300,000 for Harvard Medical School and therefore joins a gang of brainiac kids who are trained to beat the odds at Vegas casinos, touched the hearts of literally dozens of moviegoers when it was released in 2008. It's a story that speaks to ... well, none of us, really. At least no one that I know, or have ever known, or will likely know in the future.

Based on the book Bringing Down The House: The Inside Story Of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas For Millions by Kevin Mezrich, 21 is one of those ridiculous lad's fantasy flicks, in which the nerdy guy is an unappreciated genius until a twist of fate allows him to have a rugged adventure, sleep with hot chicks, and prove himself to really be a hero. The twist of fate here is embodied by Fagin-esque professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), who runs a card-counting racket on the weekends with a handful of brilliant-yet-amazingly-photogenic students. The nerdy guy, Ben (Jim Sturgess), is naturally thrilled to start pulling in some serious cash, and he relishes the chance to be near brainy blonde Jill (Kate Bosworth, cast more for her glossy hair and flawless skin than for her believability as an MIT mathlete). But soon Ben discovers -- wait for it -- that there's a down side to fleecing Vegas casinos, particularly after a security surveillance expert (Laurence Fishburne) catches on to the scheme.

What Ben doesn't ever learn in this ostensible morality tale is that cheating at cards is a bad thing in itself, or that maybe he has other options in life besides going to Harvard (the sense of entitlement in this fundamental plot element is profound), or that the illusion of success that's embodied by Las Vegas is neither practicable nor desirable. Ben doesn't know this because, judging from 21, director Robert Luketic doesn't seem to know it, either. Vegas is presented as a glittering Xanadu full of happy wealth, bright lights, and women busting out of their skimpy dresses, with Luketic lingering on all of it as if it were a combination of Disneyland, heaven, and Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, with a dash of Santa's toy shop thrown in for good measure. It's all a big candy store, and everything would be perfect if it wasn't for that menacing, killjoy security guy, who seems to only get pleasure from beating down pretty college students who are just minding their own business (and by "minding their own business" I mean "using codes, card-counting and hand signals to cheat at blackjack").

Not that the card-counting operation itself makes much sense, mind you. After lots of talk about "flying under the radar" and playing it cool so that they don't attract attention, Ben and the gang -- including the obligatory wacky, sexually non-threatening Asian dude (Aaron Yoo) -- stay in high-roller suites, spend their winnings on flashy clothes, and are on a first-name basis with the dealers. It seems like they all must be really stupid, except that, again, Luketic doesn't seem to realize it, and we're asked to accept that this is what "flying under the radar" means. Of course, we're also asked to accept that Spacey's character is wildly charismatic, while Spacey himself turns in the sort of watered down, lugubrious performance that he's come to offer in recent years.

Ultimately, the script goes precisely where scripts of this nature always go, with Ben acting like an ass to his friends because he thinks he's such a hotshot, then getting his comeuppance, and then the lecture that money, power, things, fast women -- all of the stuff that the movie has baldly celebrated to this point -- are bad, and then Luketic jerry-rigs an ending that's so silly it defies description. It all comes down to an empty experience, albeit one with a lot of flashy editing and edgy music. Which makes it worse, really, because it feels like Luketic's trying to fool us into thinking that there's something of substance going on. A lesser critic would end here with some sort of comparison between the hollow flash of 21 and the city of Las Vegas itself, but that would be too easy.

The DVD release from Sony Home Video offers an excellent anamorphic (2.40:1) transfer with equally good audio. The extras kick off with a commentary track by Robert Luketic and producers Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca. It's a solid track, if you have genuine interest in the nuts and bolts of how the film was made. There are also three featurettes: "The Advantage Player," about blackjack strategy, "Basic Strategy: A Complete Film Journal," your standard making-of featurette with interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, and "Money Plays: A Tour of the Good Life" about the art direction, sets and costumes. If you purchase the two-disc "deluxe edition," the featurettes are on the second disc, along with a digital copy of the film that you can transfer to your computer, iPhone or other device.

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Dawn Taylor prefers to play the ponies.

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