Went to see 21 this evening, despite the critical slam it was given. EW gave it a B, and they tend to be a little more everyman in their reviews, usually to a fault. So I figured what the hell, I'll go for it and hope Diana doesn't hate me for dragging her to a shitty movie. :)
If you're not familiar, the movie is loosely (like barely related) to a book called Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. Basically these kids built a system to count cards and kicked ass at it. Counting cards isn't illegal, but if they can figure out that you're doing it, it's totally in their right to ask you to leave.
In any case, the movie is a sexier version of the story, with Kevin Spacey playing the mastermind professor and Kate Bosworth being, well, I guess just attractive (I doubt she exists in the real life story or the book). She has some great hair looks, the best of which are darker hair (when will actresses learn do-me-blonde is not a good look?). Character development is a little thin, and the editing is very nearly distracting at times, but it's a fun ride. The lead goes through the typical stages of apprehension, excitement, over-indulgence, etc. The ending has some nice twists, even if they are a bit predictable.
What's funny is that they really work up the excess angle of Vegas, the kind of excess most people can't afford. If you can afford it, I doubt you're winning the way they do.