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21

A novel transformation

By BRETT MICHEL | March 25, 2008

2.0 Stars

21inside

21

In need of $300,000 for grad school at Harvard Med, Southie-bred MIT senior and former nerd Ben Campbell (Across the Universe’s Jim Sturgess) has left his robot-building pals to their virgin ways, finding his inner cardsharp during weekend trips to Vegas with a clandestine group of card-counting students led by smug math professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey, still playing American Beauty’s Lester Burnham, with an emphasis on ham). Director Robert (Legally Blonde) Luketic has transformed Ben Mezrich’s mostly non-fiction (and fairly non-readable) bestseller Bringing Down the House, adding mostly non-facts that include a villain (Spacey), lots of danger, a sexy dame (Kate Bosworth), another villain (Laurence Fishburne), and a new identity (including race) for Campbell (real name Jeff Ma). An Asian leading man is, it seems, too big a gamble for Hollywood’s myopic big players. 123 minutes | Boston Common + Fenway + Harvard Square + Somerville Theatre + Chestnut Hill + Embassy + suburbs

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Topics: Reviews , Ben Campbell , Kevin Spacey , Jim Sturgess , More

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