For more than two weeks now, "21" has topped the box office, earning more than $46 million since its release at the end of March. Based on the best-selling novel "Bringing Down the House," the movie was sure to be a clear winner in the theaters, especially with the growing popularity of card games.
However, the idea for the movie should have been left in between the covers of the book. Poor dialogue, lack of talent and a missing plot make the movie a waste of your hard earned money.

The movie follows math genius Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) as he tries to afford attending Harvard Medical School. His math skills catch the eye of his MIT professor, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) who introduces him to a group of fellow students who can count cards. Rosa takes the students to Las Vegas to earn money with their skills.

Eventually, tables turn and Cambell is faced with some tough decisions while still keeping his original goal in mind.

Spacey and Laurence Fishburne are the only well known actors in the movie.

Spacey’s character is a rough version of Robin Williams in "Dead Poet’s Society," except Spacey is not as great a teacher. He is desperately trying to be that fun loving, cool teacher that everyone wants, but he misses the bar and comes off as a smart guy playing out his life goals through his students.

Fishburne’s character is similar to Terry Benedict in "Ocean’s Eleven." He’s the typical “don’t mess with my casino or I’ll hurt you,” character, often seen in gambling movies. The two characters are not original and very flat; There is nothing more to them than what they portray on the screen. It’s almost sad that two actors of this quality play such unoriginal characters.

Though a movie does not need high-rated talent to be at the top of the box office, this movie could have used more of it to make up for the lack of entertaining dialogue.

"Juno" lacked big names but had great dialogue; this movie had a couple big names but lacked dialogue. A movie is to be remembered for what was said and what it made you think about; not the number of stars you can name in it. This movie had you thinking about how one part of the movie got to another part. There was just too much of the story that was just assumed and not told. Sure, the movie should not be spelled out like a child’s book but there was a lot of jumping to scenes that had no introduction.

Simply put, this movie is a combination of Ocean’s Eleven, Dead Poet’s Society and Good Will Hunting. Sure, those are all great movies, but if you took the boring parts out of all of them and combined them into one movie, then you would have "21." When the movie wasn’t flat and predictable, then there were scenes from Las Vegas. The Travel Channel could not have done a better job selling Vegas than this movie did. Viewers are given an insider’s look into the luxury suite of many of the hotels on the Vegas strip. The $8 spent on the ticket must have been used to get great shots of Vegas because it was not used in developing the plot or characters of this movie.

"21" is a disappointment to movie viewers. When a movie tops the box office, the best gamble is usually to see the movie. But that is not a smart move in the case of this film. Play your money smart and avoid this film until it is released on DVD.