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Any movie with Kevin Spacey in it is worth seeing. Whether it's The Usual Suspects or Pay It Forward, there's something about him that draws you in and absorbs you into the plot. So, when I saw that Spacey was in 21, I had to be intrigued, right? And the truth is, the producers pulled out the other sucker card: besides throwing one of my favorite actors out there, they threw in "based on a true story." A week out, even with Rotten Tomatoes dogging the movie with only a 32% rating, I feel obligated to live the dream and check it out.

So, I decided I'd investigate the whole "reality" portion of the movie, and discovered that there was in fact a team of MIT students who had their story published in Bringing Down The House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas For Millions (by Ben Mezrich). Unfortunately, with that title, I'm left wondering why anyone would read the book. I hate books (and movies, or anything else) that begin with the ending—what's the point of continuing? But I digress.

So, these students did in fact specialize at being brainiacs by day in Boston, and flying by weekend to the steamy Vegas nights to make more money than anyone thought possible. There were real dangers in a world where counting cards with your high-powered brain or counting cards with your high-powered machine hidden in your coat were equally distasteful to casino bosses everywhere. Which begs the question: why is it acceptable for casinos to set up a system to rip us off but unacceptable for smart college students to set up a system to bite them back?

Needless to say, I've gone from considering the movie solely on star power to actively taking an interest in the melodrama of a group of college students against the world. In particular, knowing that part of the early plot revolves around one student's desire to raise the money to attend Harvard Medical School, and that he is driven into a world of cold ambition and treacherous addiction for a "just cause." Seriously, isn't that a perfect conundrum?

While I know next-to-nothing about Blackjack, or math, really, I'm interested. And I figure that the moral dilemmas the students face when dealing with their decisions will be twice as interesting as whatever mathematical equation they unleash on me. At least, when it comes to morals, I have half a chance of understanding. And half a chance of understanding means I stand a good chance of enjoying the show.