Evan Wessman (CinematicInceptions) This is a movie that tries to act smarter than it is. It exists in a world that is inherently intelligent, since counting cards clearly takes skill and innate talent. The card counting is shown in a way that makes it so that the audience understands what is going on, but doesn't have to actually learn the skill of card-counting for themselves, which is definitely good. The characters also go to MIT, which is obviously a place that takes crazy intelligence to get into. So, basically this world should be intelligent. But at its core, it really isn't. There aren't plot holes per se, but the characters definitely miss things that they shouldn't miss. Given everything that is shown about Mickey before the climax indicates that he should really have been too smart to accept Ben's proposal. I really think he would have smelt a rat and not taken the bait. The minor team members, including Jill, didn't give the impression that they had an MIT level of intelligence. I can't think of a specific example, but just the way that they characters interacted with each other and particularly the content of their arguments was not as intelligent as it should have logically been. Yes, having a great mind for engineering does not necessarily mean that you can argue well with someone, but it does often come with a level of perceptiveness and logical acuity that is lacking in the characters here. Not every movie has to be that smart, some shouldn't be, but this was a movie that should have. The main issue was that it started off with things like the game show host scenario in Mickey's class, and then ended with a Guy Ritchie-style reveal that just felt cheap.The plus side of the movie is that it's somewhat entertaining and has a good, cinematically appealing subject matter. I mean, when you're doing something as cool as cheating the casino system, there's only so bad your movie can be. There's also some standardly cool camera/editing techniques in the casino scenes that are cool. It's also decently paced and keeps you interested in what will happen next.However, the protagonist, Ben, is pretty flat. He's kind of like an action hero in that the stuff he does is cool and he has mad skills, but as a character, there's not much there. Despite what he says in the ending monologue, there isn't really that big of a change that he goes through from the beginning to the end. Yes, he learns to have fun and gains confidence as he learns how skillful of a card shark he can be, but he really doesn't learn anything in the end. Jill is about as standard and flat of a female lead as there is. Mickey is really only a decent character because he's played by Kevin Spacey (yeah, I've heard what he did, but the guy's a heck of an actor). The other parts are similarly unremarkable, including Lawrence Fishburne. The only character that I actually liked was Miles, Josh Gad's comic relief character.Overall, it isn't bad, but it's really nothing special despite what it may try to fool you into thinking. It will keep you entertained for two hours, but you'll probably forget it soon afterward. One final bone to pick, there really didn't have to be as many scenes in the strip club as there were, especially in a PG-13 movie. Basically, my main problem with the movie is that it could have been much better given the subject matter and the world that was created in it. So watch it if you want, but don't expect anything on an Ocean's Eleven level. Overall Rating: 6.9/10.

Niall O'Hara I watched this film on a relaxed Sunday evening expecting it to be a light heated flick and an enjoyable game of blackjack, similar to Oceans Eleven or Focus. Instead I found myself feeling anxious the whole time, waiting for the team to fail and inevitably loose all there money. Not the edge of you seat anxious, more the awkward 'why are they doing this' anxious. Of course it came to a relatively satisfying conclusion, as these types of films often do, but I gained little enjoyment from watching this as it was so obvious that everything had to go wrong at some point.Saying this, if you like cards and tense situations then this may be a good film for you. The acting was below average from most of the leads but, as always, Kevin spacey is a delight to watch. A standard plot and some interesting camera work make this an okay film, but there are better, similar films out there.My personal recommendations in order of preference would be:1. Oceans Eleven, 2. Rainman 3. The Hangover 4. Focus

Hunky Stud when I saw the film, I thought that it was just another average caucasian film, it has so many white characters in it which is so typical for most Hollywood films. the last memorable mostly Asian film that i saw was : Joy Luck Club, which was so long ago. often times, people say that Hollywood doesn't have many films that are suitable for Asian American actors, because most roles are for white people. there are hardly any Asian children in the USA that have dreams of becoming big actors, because they never see any famous big Asian actors as their role models. when i saw the film, i only knew that it was based on "a true story". i thought that it was some smart white students from mit who did it. I just found out that this film was actually based on some real Asian students from MIT. it could be a good positive film to represent Asian people in the USA. i am shocked that i was fooled by this so-called "true story" which wasn't true at all. this film could be one of the few rare films that actually have plenty of roles for Asian American actors. the producers and director chose to discriminate against Asian American actors, did the wrong thing by hiring white actors. no matter how they explain it, what they did is totally racist. and the protagonist wasn't even a US citizen, he is a foreigner. why do Hollywood hire foreigners who have to fake US accent when there are plenty of Asian American actors who speak perfect English.black people boycotted 2016 Oscar because it has no black nominations. some Asian American actors might have won an Oscar if they were given the chance to play a role in this film.

Sherazade A bunch of brilliant Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students are trained by a professor with seemingly insidious agendas on the art of card counting in the hopes of beating the age old slogan 'The house always wins' by using mathematics and skill to throw games at the biggest casinos in Las Vegas and taking those high rolling money magnets for all they are worth. Each student on the team must be clever enough to hold their card counting position on the team, discrete enough to keep their craft a secret and desperate enough for funds not to want to leave the team high and dry in case they suddenly develop (ed) a conscience. Kevin Spacey is magnificent (when is he not?) as the conniving professor with Kate Bosworth, Jim Sturgess and Laurence Fishburne in co-starring roles.