A “biographical comedy-drama [focussing] on the career of Washington, D.C. lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff, who was involved in a massive corruption scandel that led to the conviction of himself, two White House officials, Rep. Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional staffers.” (Wikipedia). This sets the background quite nicely and as I don’t like to divulge the exacting details and plot, this will suffice as to the tale.
Now if I am honest I knew little to nothing about the real life events of Jack Abramoff and so for me this could have been a completely fictional and fantasised extreme look at the issues surrounding modern politics. With this in mind “Casino Jack” is intriguing and enlightening as much as it is entertaining. Starring Kevin Spacey as Jack, the center of the greed and selfish indulgence that caused a huge scandal. He puts in a brilliant performance playing a character as brave and confident as he is vacuous and naive, a difficult combination to pull of convincingly.
Overall it is a very well presented piece of cinema, well written, well performed and immaculately captured. There is criticism about the authenticity of the events and ideas presented, but if you don’t care for the real world corruption then watch this just as the good film that it is.
Simon Robinson's Culture Review 