Jim Sturgess Counts Cards In 21

Over the weekend I caught the movie '21' starring English actor James Anthony "Jim" Sturgess born May 16, 1981.

Although '21' was a big role for Jim Sturgess, most critics believe his break-out role was in Jude in 2007's Across The Universe.

(Image of Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth - DailyCeleb.com - All Rights Reserved).

Born in London, England, Jim Sturgess grew up in Farnham, Surrey.  He studied at the University of Salford's School of Media, Music and Performance.

He was discovered performing in his self written poetry based one-person show "Buzzin" where he was recommended to an actor's agency back in London.

While he was acting in various television programs and independent films he became a member of a seven piece band, named the "Dilated Spies". Once the band broke up he began to once again pursue a career in acting.

Making A Killing In 21

In my humble opinion the movie '21', which is based on a true story, is excellent and full of suspense.  I'm not sure the critics would agree with me but afterall, I was watching the movie for pure entertainment and to check out the various hairstyles.

Kevin Spencer plays the crafty MIT professor  (Professor Micky Rosa) who lures a hand picked group of students into a Card Counting Scheme.  Jim Sturgess is the brilliant student (Ben Campbell) who joins the team and then stores his 100s of thousands of money winnings in the ceiling above his bed.  Yeah, totally weird.

You know what happened. Jim and his professor have a major falling out and he goes back to his room to discover all of his thousands of dollars of winnings were completely gone.  He also was in danger of getting kicked out of MIT and his dreams of Harvard Medical School were at serious risk.

Kate Bosworth was great as part of the team of card counting students (Jill Taylor) and managed to have a steamy affair with Jim Sturgess.

Of course all goes terribly wrong when the team is spotted in Las Vegas by the "eye in the sky" guys and their ring is broked up by Laurence Fishburne.

High Hopes Dashed

Unfortunately the movie, which actually was released in 2008, didn't get high marks from the critics.  The movie is based on the nonfiction book "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions," written by Ben Mezrich.  Apparently there was some disagreement over what details were kept from the book in the film making the movie less thrilling - according to some of the critics.

As I said earlier, I watch movies for the entertainment value.

wanted the book's grubby little details. Fans of British actor Jim Sturgess hoped the dreamy "Across the Universe" star would ascend to the next rung of fame. MIT alums looked forward to seeing their campus on screen.