21

21 (2008)

11 corrected entries

(3 votes)

Corrected entry: This film is based on a true story. One problem though: the kids from MIT were mostly Asian American students, not all white kids.

Correction: This may be based on a true story, but it is not a documentary. They are allowed to make changes for dramatization.

Rlvlk

Corrected entry: At the end of the movie, when the two main charaters were in the hotel standing in front of a mirror, he had glasses on - but in the mirror, he did not.

Correction: It does look that way, but take a closer look, you can just barely make out the frames. The reason they are harder to see is because they are out of focus, unlike the ones in front of the mirror.

brassmaster

Corrected entry: During the opening credits when Ben is riding his bike, his bag switches shoulders.

Correction: It only changes at the end of the opening credits as he arrives at school. It is perfectly logical that he could have changed shoulders any time during the ride.

Corrected entry: When introduced to the team, Prof Rosa asks Ben if he's ever been to this classroom and Ben says he took organic chemistry in it during frehman year. When asked by the Prof how he did, he says he got an 'A'. At MIT, in the 90s, freshmen only got Pass or No Record for courses. They were not graded until sophomore year. (00:18:00)

Correction: This movie takes place in the present day! This can be seen in the cell phones that they used and also in the scene where they go shopping at the Wynn casino/hotel, which did not exist in the 90s.

Corrected entry: In the scene at the beginning of the film where Ben, his mother, Josh, and Cam are celebrating his 21st birthday in the bar with the cake, Ben's mother hands Josh (sitting on Ben's right) a slice of cake and he says "Thanks." In one of the immediately following shots, Ben's mother is yet again giving Josh another piece of cake. Surely he can't have eaten it all in 3 seconds.

Correction: The second piece of cake is for Ben. Ben started laughing and wasn't paying attention, so his mother handed the piece to Josh to set down in front of Ben, for Ben.

Corrected entry: It is interesting to note that the head of security at the casino is named "Terry." In the Ocean's 11, 12, and 13 movies, we've come be be quite familiar with the name Terry Benedict, also the common "bad guy." Somehow it seems difficult to see this as a coincidence.

Correction: Why is it hard to believe that two people who work in the fictional casino industry in Las Vegas (out of the thousands who are employed) would share the same first name? My name is Michael, and out of a building of 600 people, there are two other Michael's in my office. It is, as you say, a coincidence.

Corrected entry: If you watch the trailer, the scene where Kevin looks at the test score of the main character, it shows a 100% - but in the movie the paper showed a 97%.

Correction: Comparisons between trailers and movies are not considered valid mistakes as trailers commonly contain footage that does not make the final cut of the movie.

Rlvlk

Corrected entry: MIT's grading scale is on a 5.0 system. Ben's GPA of 4.0 would be straight B's, yet he received an A in his freshman year chemistry class.

Correction: Ben's GPA would be an average of a B, not necessarily straight Bs. On a 5 point scale an A(5 points) and a C(3 points) create a B average, so this is completely possible within the context of reality and the movie. Also, the place where we find that Ben had a 4.0 is in the interview at Harvard. Harvard has a 4 point grading scale. In order to compare objective criteria such as GPA, most universities will re-calculate grades based on their own point scale.

Corrected entry: The Wynn was not a hotel in Las Vegas during the timeframe of this movie. Also, the security screening was based on today's procedures, rather than when the Vegas casino scenarios occurred.

Correction: The film looks like it was actually taken place in present day rather than back in the early 90s. During the opening credits, present day cars are seen.

Corrected entry: (slight spoiler) Also notable in the Ocean's franchise, they use flashbacks to explain the plot. And in one scene, they use the exact same song that was used in the Ocean's score.

Correction: The use of flashbacks in films to explain prior events is hardly unusual, and the appearance of a given song in two different films is not noteworthy either.

Tailkinker

Correction: We are told that in the opening credits, so it is not trivia if you know how to read.

Continuity mistake: When Prof. Rosa calls Cole, Terry answers the phone and places Rosa on hold. However, when Cole takes the phone from Terry, he does not take Rosa off of hold and proceeds to talk to him.

Michael Piscitelli

More mistakes in 21

Kianna: Everybody knows to split eights. My grandmother splits eights.

More quotes from 21

Trivia: When Cole is beating up Ben for counting cards, before it changes to the next scene, you can see Cole's arm stop for a brief second, which gives away that there is more to that scene.

More trivia for 21

Question: I was under the impression, although I may be wrong, that winnings in Vegas are taxed over a certain amount, and that this is done in the casino when cashing out. At the end of the film, Lawrence Fishburn says that the IRS will be wanting to speak to Kevin Spacey, but how were they able to cash out the amounts they won whilst using fake id's? It doesn't mention it in the book either - I know for the purposes of the film this is soemthing they can gloss over, but I was wondering if it would be possible to win the amounts they are talking about and simply walk out with the cash? I know in one part they cash it in in smaller amounts, but surely the casino would be aware of a huge win on one of the tables, and would be expecting a big cash out?

Answer: Gambling winnings are taxable, but using fake IDs was one way of getting around the IRS. It was also mentioned in the book that the team would keep chips until their next Vegas trip to avoid cashing out. They would also exchange money with each other so everyone would come under the $10K limit before the casino had to file a Currency Transaction Report. Also, there is no reason not to assume they would place some of their winnings as "credit" for their next visit.

More questions & answers from 21

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