Title: Casino Jack
Director: George Hickenlooper
Starring: Kevin Spacey (Horrible Bosses, American Beauty), Ruth Marshall, Graham Greene (New Moon) and Hannah Endicott-Douglas.
Studios are often taking a gamble on new movies today, and Art Takes Over is no exception. It’s new biographical film ‘Casino Jack,’ which stars Kevin Spacey as well-meaning-turned-greedy Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, doesn’t live up to late director George Hickenlooper’s previously high standards. He tried to make ‘Casino Jack’ the next great biography movie of men involved in Washington, D.C. politics, but ultimately fails by attempting to give the plot an unneeded comedic undertone.
The film follows lobbyist Jack Abramoff (portrayed by Spacey), who is determined to make as much money as possible, in an effort to provide a better life for his wife Pam (played by Kelly Preston) and their five children. Jack and his business partner Michael Scanlon (portrayed by Barry Pepper) decide to defraud several Native American tribes by charging them exorbitant amounts of money.
Jack and Michael then hire Adam Kidan (played by Jon Lovitz), a former mattress company owner and disbarred lawyer with mob connections, to help with their latest venture, a casino cruise ship. After becoming involved with mafia assassins, murder, fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion, the FBI moves in on Jack, Michael, Adam and everyone else involved in their scheme.
Screenwriter Norman Snider wrongfully decided to concentrate on the bizarre details of the conspiracy story. He said that he had the same sense of humor as Hickenlooper, who died on October 30, 2010. Snider said they “both always saw this (movie) as primarily a dark comedy,” and they were “committed to coupling the humor with journalistic accuracy.”
But the comedic undertones took away what has made other political dramas, including last month’s ‘Fair Game,’ work. Including juvenile scenes, including one where Adam gets stabbed in the face and neck with a pen by another mobster, do get laughs in the moment. However, adding jokes that don’t benefit the film’s overall tone just remind viewers that they can’t be empathetic towards Jack and the other lobbyists who were arrested. They didn’t take their situation seriously to make Americans understand what they went through.
The only redeeming quality of this movie was Hickenlooper’s decision to cast the two-time Academy Award-winning Spacey in the lead role. Rightfully winning a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Lester Burnham in ‘American Beauty,’ the actor proved he’s right at home played the flawed anti-hero. Of Spacey, the director said he “is one of the great leading bad guys of all times.” As with many of his villains, Spacey portrayed Jack as being a complex, manipulative, and at the same time charismatic, character.
Spacey wanted to show the world Jack’s side of the story. The actor also wanted to prove the former lobbyist was, at least in the beginning of his career, trying to help people. Not only did he want to provide for his family, he also wanted to provide for the rest of the country as well. As Hackenlooper said, Jack “has a lot of ambitious dreams, but I think he lost sigh of the consequences of his actions as he tried to achieve his dreams.”
Overall, ‘Casino Jack’ just seems like a place for Jack Abramoff to get back at Republicans, former President George W. Bush and the Justice Department for putting him in jail for six years. As Hickenlooper said, he believed Jack agreed to meet with him and Spacey because he felt it was to his advantage, since he “had been so vilified and demonized in the press.” While the movie seems like it’s trying to commend Jack’s behavior and let him explain his side of the story, ‘Casino Jack’ fails to live up to Hickenlooper’s plan and his other films.
Written by: Karen Benardello
