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The movie “21” follows an overachieving student, Ben Campbell, who isn’t looking for good grades but rather a quick way to earn a bucket load of cash to pay his Massachusetts Institute of Technology tuition. The kind of character profile made so famous and loved for years, mostly recently held-high by Saul Goodman. Ben, the main character, alongside five other students and their professor, use their mathematical skills to plan and execute a casino heist in Las Vegas.
The “21” movie is based on facts involving six students who plan and attempt a money heist. Whether it was desperation, bravery, or a mixture of both, everyone wants to know what parts were true and what parts were entirely made up. We look at what the real story is behind the movie “21”.
The Casino Heist
Everyone enjoys a good casino heist story for an entertaining cinematic experience. Some of the best Hollywood movies are about casino robberies. Typically, a “rough-around-the-edges” team with unique skills, the thrill of risk-taking, and a whole lot of luck is assembled – like a DC’s Suicide Squad – to plan and accomplish such a dangerous financial endeavour.
The gripping “21” story is not just your average casino movie with eccentric or charming characters who are accustomed to bending the rules and breaking the law. Instead, this movie follows a bunch of intellectuals who can’t afford to pay their tuition bills at one of the top institutes in the United States. Plus, based on a true story, but how true is it?
The Outline
Casinos use high-tech security knowing that they are a target for potential heists, so it takes a group of talented individuals to get away with planning a casino heist. Films from the heist genre often follow a team-based approach to the narrow, think of Heat for instance. Originally released in 2008, the movie is not just an entertaining two hours but also based on the true story of six MIT students who were brave enough to attempt such a mission.
Real or Fiction?
Firstly, the part that is realistically portrayed in the movie is that the MIT Blackjack Team accomplished a card-counting scam with no previous gambling experience but only their mathematical skills, which allowed them to pull it off during the 1980s. Each student was trained by a card-counting veteran who recruited students from MIT and other academic institutes in the United States. However, just as the main character you too can go to nettikasino-ilman-rekisteröitymistä.com and try your skills.
There are major differences between the real-life events and the movie portrayal that categorise the film as more fictional than truth. Firstly, the student Ben Campbell didn’t need to count Blackjack cards because he was desperate to pay his tuition fees. Campbell was actually from a wealthy family. Secondly, the movie uses mobile phones and other technology not around during the ’80s.
Finally, the Las Vegas casinos the movie shows were also not accurate to the casinos of the time that the real story took place. The romance, which is always a big action movie hit for Hollywood, was not based on any truth.
Photo by Javon Swaby from Pexels
Besides casino games, casino heist films are a form of entertainment that keeps you gripped with the anticipation of whether they will get away with it or not. Overall, “21” is based on the real MIT Blackjack Team that were able to count cards and win some big money successfully. They were a group of people that weren’t willing to leave their success up to fate or Lady Luck.
