Welcome to Reel People. It’s a place where, you guessed it, real people like yourselves spout off on new movie releases. It works best if you - yes, we mean you - jump into the forum link below and tell us what you think of the movie, too.

This week, we’re watching 21.

What I Liked: I enjoyed “21!” Not only is it about blackjack but there’s also a lot of focus on the characters, unlike many other gambling movies that put you to sleep unless you are really into gambling. Jim Sturgess’s portrayal of a desperate student in need of money for grad school is convincing. Kevin Spacey puts on a fine performance as the crooked professor who trains the students to count cards and win at blackjack. The students eventually rebel against him and this makes for some very dramatic and funny scenes. Visually this film is pleasing with many great shots of the casinos on the Vegas strip.

What I Disliked: This isn’t the film’s fault, but I feel I need to say something about Kate Bosworth. She plays one of the students and is a good actress but her eating disorder is really showing. To say she is skeletal is an understatement. I am not poking fun and I hope she is seeking treatment. It’s really, really sad that she is practically unrecognizable when compared to her first big movie, “Blue Crush.”

Would I Recommend?: I recommend it! Cool gambling and much more!

Score: 8 out of 10

- Nick Conrad

What I Liked: It was an entertaining movie to which I could take a range of tweens and teens without groans either on my behalf or theirs.  I enjoyed the fact that I didn’t have to pick out the dialogue from amongst the expletives deleted, and I didn’t have to try and associate which flying body part had erstwhile belonged to which character.  Jim Sturgess makes an appealing and attractive nerd, a student at MIT, who even has an affectionately healthy relationship with his mother. It is refreshing to have the attractive blonde in the movie (Kate Bosworth as an aspiring “rocket scientist") not only appear normally proportioned but also to have more than two brain cells intermittently communicating with each other.

What I Disliked: It’s a standard caper movie.  If you are looking for a challenging movie, a movie with subtle character nuances or even one with surprising plot developments, this shouldn’t be your first choice.

Would I Recommend?: I’d recommend this as a teen version of the “Oceans” franchise, with a similar ambience. The play of the title, 21, being both the main characters age and the relevant score needed to win at blackjack shows the level of complex interactions the movie reaches.

Score: 6 out of 10

- Marian Hill

What I Liked: As a regular player of poker, I was looking forward to “21.” Though I am more of a texas hold ‘em girl, a movie revolving around poker (mainly blackjack), and more specifically cheating successfully at it, seemed very intriguing. Unfortuantely, I liked very little about it. Actually, my favorite part of the movie was when it ended.

What I Disliked: Oh, where to begin. Kevin Spacey was predictably playing himself, which seems to be a trend with him as of late. This version of himself, was that of the professor/former card shark who woos his students to Vegas with the promise of mad money. But his one liners were so bad that you can barely remember his great characters like Verbal Kint and Lester Burnham which launched his career. He also produced the movie, which deserves another slap on the hand.
The other actors in the ensemble were all pretty forgetable and uninspiring.
The effects and cinematography were also annoyingly trite and predicitable. From the slow motion up close shot of a flipping poker chip, to the scenes of everything and everyone blurred and again in slow motion except for the main character, was rememinscent of any commerical you’d fast forward your dvr through.

Would I Recommend?: I would not recommend this movie. It reminded me of a bad WB show, that would’ve have been canceled halfway through its first season.

Score: 3 out of 10

- Stephanie Powers