By Scott Martin

Casino Jack, Canada, 2010

Directed by George Hickenlooper

The most unfortunate thing about this film isn’t that it degrades the importance of Jack Abramoff’s crimes down to a heist flick along the lines of 21 (2008), nor is it that its screenplay has all of the emotional depth and latitude of Shrink (2009). It’s that this is the late, yet formidable as ever, Maury Chaykin’s last film. Thankfully, his role let him go out in style, and with this film, style is just about all there is. Director George Hickenlooper passed on after filming this project as well.

Where the film’s complete failure begins is with its screenplay, though writer Norman Snider got a couple of things right. Everything he wrote about is ridiculous and, from an outsider’s perspective, kind of funny, if not incomprehensible. What he left out, though, was the weight of Abramoff’s actions, and just how important and destructive they were. He creates one-sided characters and injects them into a 3D labyrinth of movie quotes, political disdain, and Kevin Spacey doing impressions. So. Many. Damn. Impressions. I felt like I was watching another one of Kevin Costner’s movies that “just happened to involve baseball.” It got tiresome, and it wasn’t amusing the first time. Read More