{"id":4715,"date":"2011-01-06T13:37:45","date_gmt":"2011-01-06T19:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715"},"modified":"2011-01-06T13:37:45","modified_gmt":"2011-01-06T19:37:45","slug":"movie-review-casino-jack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715","title":{"rendered":"Movie review: Casino Jack"},"content":{"rendered":"

Casino Jack:\u00a0 A Dark Comedy All Too True\u00a0With Kevin Spacey as Jack Abramoff<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Sandra Olmsted<\/strong><\/p>\n

Casino Jack, the last film of the late George Hickenlooper, who had just come in to his own as a feature film director, is a tour de force for Hickenlooper and its star, Kevin Spacey, who plays the title character Casino Jack aka Jack Abramoff, once the most influential lobbyist in America.<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper focuses not only on the facts of the Abramoff scandal, but on the complexities of Abramoff\u2019s character, and on the humor in Norman Snider\u2019s script, and the result is a fabulous dark comedy with an edgy message about power in the US government.\u00a0 For his part, Spacey imbues Abramoff with the conflicting characteristics that make Abramoff, the man, more than real, and maybe a little sympathetic, too.<\/p>\n

Jack Casino, the film, recounts the scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff\u2019s rise to power and prominence and fall from grace and power and how all the rats on Abramoff\u2019s sinking ship covered their backsides and scrambled for shore.\u00a0 The scandal, which was called the biggest since Watergate, might have disappeared from collective memory had Hickenlooper not made this entertaining, exciting, and informative feature film.\u00a0 (Alex Gibney also made a documentary this same topic:\u00a0 Casino Jack and the United States of Money, which was also released this year.)\u00a0 Any more of a\u00a0 plot summary would only spoil the excitement of watching the facts unfold.<\/p>\n

Spacey\u2019s Abramoff is a devoted father and husband, an deeply religious man who creates and funds a number of charitable ventures, and an enterprising businessman who incorporates his faith into every aspect of his life, and that final character trait makes what he became involved in so interesting.\u00a0 Ultimately, on some levels, he was doing wrong to do good — at least good as he saw it.\u00a0 However, his judgment was progressively corrupted by greed and power.\u00a0 Although Abramoff seemingly starts off as not-so-bad guy with too much ambition, he succumbs to temptation and gets into a very dark, very conflicted place.\u00a0 In an emotional charged scene between Abramoff and his wife Pam (Kelly Preston), the crises of his corruption and of their marriage are laid bare.<\/p>\n

Although Spacey steals the show, many other actors and characters deserve mentioning.\u00a0 Spencer Garrett plays Tom Delay with a delightful smarminess, and he and Preston hold their own in scenes with Spacey.\u00a0 Jon Lovitz, who of course is better known for skit and standup comedy, is terrific as a smalltime, crooked pitchman Adam Kidan, who Abramoff hires to run one of the tax shelters in which Abramoff and his partners are hiding and\/or laundering unbelievable amounts of money.\u00a0 Barry Pepper plays Michael Scanlon, Abramoff\u2019s back-stabbing, womanizing partner, and the late Maury Chaykin is perfection as Kidan\u2019s friend and mentor, Big Tony, an old-school mobster who sees violence as the most direct negotiating tool.<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper, in addition to using the real names of so many involved in or touched by the scandal, also intercuts actual footage of the senate hearings run by Senator John McCain during which the real Abramoff took the fifth time and again.\u00a0 In Hickenlooper\u2019s film, Spacey\u2019s Abramoff at least gets a fantasy sequence in which he tells all and demands to know why he is the target of an investigation when those presiding over the hearing are as guilty of taking money for votes as he was of handing out \u201ccampaign contributions\u201d for votes.\u00a0 Casino Jack<\/em> is a ATO Pictures release which runs 108 minutes and is rated R for pervasive language, some violence, and brief nudity.<\/p>\n

Casino Jack <\/em>is an extremely enjoyable film that will make viewers want an end to lobbyists\u2019 undue influence over American politics.\u00a0 George Hickenlooper, a St. Louis native and a favorite of the St. Louis film community, died on October 29, 2010 at age 47.\u00a0 Although he did live to see his Jack Casino film garner impressive reviews, he did not live to see the nationwide release this Friday, Jan. 7, 2010.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Casino Jack:\u00a0 A Dark Comedy All Too True\u00a0With Kevin Spacey as Jack Abramoff By Sandra Olmsted Casino Jack, the last film of the late George Hickenlooper, who had just come in to his own as a feature film director, is a tour de force for Hickenlooper and its star, Kevin Spacey, who plays the title […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nMovie review: Casino Jack - flovalleynews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Movie review: Casino Jack - flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Casino Jack:\u00a0 A Dark Comedy All Too True\u00a0With Kevin Spacey as Jack Abramoff By Sandra Olmsted Casino Jack, the last film of the late George Hickenlooper, who had just come in to his own as a feature film director, is a tour de force for Hickenlooper and its star, Kevin Spacey, who plays the title […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-01-06T19:37:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"independentnws\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"independentnws\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=4715#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=4715\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"independentnws\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7bede6d4517a6be3345b47415b09cebd\"},\"headline\":\"Movie review: Casino Jack\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-01-06T19:37:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=4715\"},\"wordCount\":676,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Movie Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=4715#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=4715\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=4715\",\"name\":\"Movie review: Casino Jack - flovalleynews.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-01-06T19:37:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7bede6d4517a6be3345b47415b09cebd\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=4715#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=4715\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=4715#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Movie review: Casino Jack\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"flovalleynews.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7bede6d4517a6be3345b47415b09cebd\",\"name\":\"independentnws\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f76505b4d7bc95b432faea9b79d00a6abc40ba8a96aef3a5fbd567ecb14b19a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f76505b4d7bc95b432faea9b79d00a6abc40ba8a96aef3a5fbd567ecb14b19a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f76505b4d7bc95b432faea9b79d00a6abc40ba8a96aef3a5fbd567ecb14b19a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"independentnws\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Movie review: Casino Jack - flovalleynews.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Movie review: Casino Jack - flovalleynews.com","og_description":"Casino Jack:\u00a0 A Dark Comedy All Too True\u00a0With Kevin Spacey as Jack Abramoff By Sandra Olmsted Casino Jack, the last film of the late George Hickenlooper, who had just come in to his own as a feature film director, is a tour de force for Hickenlooper and its star, Kevin Spacey, who plays the title […]","og_url":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715","og_site_name":"flovalleynews.com","article_published_time":"2011-01-06T19:37:45+00:00","author":"independentnws","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"independentnws","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715"},"author":{"name":"independentnws","@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7bede6d4517a6be3345b47415b09cebd"},"headline":"Movie review: Casino Jack","datePublished":"2011-01-06T19:37:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715"},"wordCount":676,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Movie Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715","url":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715","name":"Movie review: Casino Jack - flovalleynews.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-01-06T19:37:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7bede6d4517a6be3345b47415b09cebd"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4715#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Movie review: Casino Jack"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/","name":"flovalleynews.com","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7bede6d4517a6be3345b47415b09cebd","name":"independentnws","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f76505b4d7bc95b432faea9b79d00a6abc40ba8a96aef3a5fbd567ecb14b19a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f76505b4d7bc95b432faea9b79d00a6abc40ba8a96aef3a5fbd567ecb14b19a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f76505b4d7bc95b432faea9b79d00a6abc40ba8a96aef3a5fbd567ecb14b19a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"independentnws"},"url":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4715\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}