Casino Jack (known in certain territories as Bagman) is a 2010 action thriller comedy film directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Kevin Spacey. The film focuses on the career of Washington, D.C. lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff, who was involved in a massive corruption scandal that led to his conviction as well as the conviction of two White House officials, Rep. Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional staffers. Abramoff was convicted of fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion in 2006, and of trading expensive gifts, meals and sports trips in exchange for political favors. Abramoff served three and a half years of a six-year sentence in federal prison, and was then assigned to a halfway house. He was released on December 3, 2010.
Spacey was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Abramoff, eventually losing to Paul Giamatti for his role in Barney's Version.
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Plot
A hot shot Washington DC lobbyist and his protégé go down hard as their schemes to peddle influence lead to corruption and murder.
Maps Casino Jack
Cast
- Kevin Spacey as Jack Abramoff
- Kelly Preston as Pam Abramoff
- Rachelle Lefevre as Emily J. Miller
- Barry Pepper as Michael Scanlon
- Jon Lovitz as Adam Kidan
- John David Whalen as Kevin A. Ring
- Yannick Bisson as Oscar Carillo
- Graham Greene as Bernie Sprague
- Eric Schweig as Chief Poncho
- Maury Chaykin as Big Tony
- Christian Campbell as Ralph Reed
- Spencer Garrett as Tom DeLay
- Joe Pingue as Anthony Ferrari
- David Fraser as Karl Rove
- Jeffrey R. Smith as Grover Norquist
- Daniel Kash as Gus Boulis
- Conrad Pla as Agent Hanley
- Hannah Endicott-Douglas as Sarah Abramoff
- Ruth Marshall as Susan Schmidt
- Reid Morgan as Brian Mann
- Duke Redbird as Senator Nighthorse
Production
Filming took place in June 2009 in various locations across Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, including McMaster University and downtown Hamilton. The film was scheduled for release in December 2010 and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
This was Hickenlooper's final film. He died on October 29, 2010, seven weeks before its scheduled December 17, 2010, national opening.
Reception
Casino Jack received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 36%, based on 95 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Kevin Spacey turns in one of his stronger performances, but Casino Jack is a disappointingly uneven fictionalized account of a fascinating true story." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 51 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, stating that "Casino Jack is so forthright, it is stunning."
References
External links
- Casino Jack at AllMovie
- Casino Jack at Box Office Mojo
- Casino Jack on IMDb
- Casino Jack at Metacritic
- Casino Jack at Rotten Tomatoes
- Casino Jack production website at Hannibal Pictures
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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