Casino Jack was released in 2010, and it tells the story of the lead-up-to and eventual fall of former Washington D.C. lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Directed by George Hinkenlooper (who died before the film's release) the movie stars Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, Jon Lovitz, Kelly Preston. and Rachelle Lefevre.
For anyone already familiar with the story, this is a comedic-dramatization of events. One of the problems that sometimes arises when making a Hollywood version of a story like that of Abramoff is that there is no good guy to root for. While Spacey (his own future scandals aside) plays Abramoff as likeable as possible, everyone related to this story is at fault. The lobbyist, the Senators who take money from the lobbyist, the people paying the lobbyists to sway the Senator's vote in their favor... it's a story of fraud, greed and corruption and leads to the movie being a bit of a mess tonally. That being said, I do like the film overall. I think that the acting is pretty solid throughout, and I'm a bit of a sucker for true crime stories. It's also not a particularly long movie, only about 1hr 45mins, but it packs a lot into that time and keeps the story moving.
Casino Jack wasn't a critical or box-office hit but, I think there is enough good stuff in the film to make it worthwhile.
I give it a 3 out of 5.
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