It explores the rise and fall of Abramoff, a Jewish conservative who led the College Republicans during the Reagan era in the 1980s.
Overall, it's an interesting, funny, and irreverent portrait of our troubled times. CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY is a documentary on the political scandals involving Jack Abramoff. Like ' The Godfather ,' it makes us feel like eavesdroppers in a secret place. It's based on a book by Nicholas Pileggi, who had full access to a man who once ran four casinos for the mob, and whose true story inspires the movie's plot. But to its credit, the movie gambles on a really nasty lead character and doesn't bother trying to make him 'likeable.' The movie knows that Abramoff is a terrible person and allows the audience to know that, too. Martin Scorsese's fascinating new film 'Casino' knows a lot about the Mafia's relationship with Las Vegas. There isn't much room for others in this kind of one-man show, but Lovitz gets in some nice moments as the sleazy, small-time hood.ĭirector George Hickenlooper - who passed away in October of 2010 - can't quite fine-tune the movie into the tight comedy it should have been it's a little uneven in places and a little wobbly in others.
Spacey is clearly enjoying every manic moment here (throwing in the occasional celebrity impression to boot), and the screenplay by Norman Snider does a nice job of feeding his frenzy. Powerful lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Kevin Spacey) is on a mission to acquire all the good things that money, power and privilege can buy.
The biggest asset in Casino Jack is Spacey, who plays Abramoff as the cynical, snappy type of character he made so memorable in American Beauty.
