tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13166465.post7935341441042817440..comments2023-06-13T10:12:19.364-04:00Comments on WORMBOOK: Filmbook: BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE and "21"Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15621027650985696321noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13166465.post-88947410961507991232008-04-17T10:02:00.000-04:002008-04-17T10:02:00.000-04:00Spoiler, spoiler, spoilery spoiler!OK, so in the e...Spoiler, spoiler, spoilery spoiler!<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>OK, so in the end of BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE, the character Kevin basically decides to walk away from playing due to a combination of busts (i.e. casinos recognizing his face and asking him to leave) and scares (someone breaking into his apartment to leave him a message -- a scene replicated in the movie, although in the book they only trash his place and in the movie all his money is stolen). <BR/><BR/>Instead "21" scraps this plan to wrap up the whole thing in a nice big bow. The team convinces Micky Rosa to play for one last big score, even though he's been caught card counting in Vegas before. "Coincidentally," a security guard (Laurence Fishburne) who finds his job threatened by facial scanners and other technology used to catch cheaters is looking for Micky as his last big catch before retirement. This guard character makes a lot of appearances in the movie, most of which are quite boring. In the end, he's the one chasing Ben and his buddies through the casino, but he agrees to let them go without charges IF they surrender Micky and the money they're carrying. The guard gets his man, the kids go back to their real lives, and apparently the law has no meaning. <BR/><BR/>This wouldn't have been so frustrating but for the "frame story" also layered onto this movie, in which it is revealed at the end that the whole movie is a story Ben is telling an admissions officer at Harvard Medical School in order to get a scholarship. He's trying to make himself "dazzle" so he can get a full ride -- the full ride he was going to pay for with his blackjack money, before it was stolen -- but really, WHO DOES THAT? Basically the last scene is Ben leaving the awe-stricken admissions officer, and the music and cues implying that this dumbass technique actually worked. Oh, Hollywood, why?Ellenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15621027650985696321noreply@blogger.com