Scam Movie Pays 21 for VCA Graduate

[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 3, No. 2  12 May - 9 June 2008 ]

Filming in Las Vegas is a surreal, sometimes bizarre, funny and extraordinary experience, says director Robert Luketic. But it’s never dull.

Luketic and his crew camped out in the middle of the biggest party town in the world to make 21. And it’s a rollercoaster ride that the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) graduate will never forget.

“There were weeks that went by when I never saw daylight and we were actually staying in the casinos we were shooting in,” he recalls.

“I’d wake up at five in the morning and the place would still be full of people gambling. It’s bizarre.

“We were shooting six days a week and by the end we were almost ready to top each other,” he jokes. “It was 200 crew members living like vampires. By the time we finished shooting, it would be dark again. It was like Land Of The Living Dead.”

21 – now showing in Melbourne – is based on a true story about a group of highly intelligent MIT students who took the Vegas casinos for a fortune with a complex card counting scam.

Luketic first heard about it via a magazine article based on a book, Bringing Down The House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas For Millions by Ben Mezrich.

“To take Vegas like they did, you need to be supremely gifted,” Luketic said.

“They form a card-counting group and set up a very complex system of body language,” he explains.

“When one sees that a deck is becoming ‘hot’ another player is sent over with a lot of money. He looks as if he’s there for a conference, or he looks like a Russian tourist. When they know the deck is right, they put down a lot of money. It’s always blackjack.”

Luketic is best known for directing the smash hit comedy Legally Blonde which grossed close to $100 million. The film, which marked Luketic’s feature film directing debut, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards.

Born in Sydney, Luketic won his first award at the age of 15, when he was honored for Best Film at the ATOM Film Festival.

He went on to study at the VCA (Bachelor of Film and Television 1996) School of Film and Television. He now lives in Los Angeles.