Casino Jack

Theatrical Release Date: 2010 12 17 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 024543738732

Studio: 20th Century Fox

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Brief Nudity, Profanity]

Summary: Self-professed "super-lobbyist" and double-dealing high roller Jack Abramoff (Academy Award-winner Kevin Spacey) watches in vain as his highly lucrative empire starts to crumble thanks to one fateful mistake in this high-energy comedy inspired by real events from director George Hickenlooper (The Man from Elysian Fields, Factory Girl). When Jack and resourceful businessman Michael Scanlon (Barry Pepper) team up to exert their influence over some the biggest players in Washington, D.C., their bid to strike it rich pays off, big time. But somewhere between the high-profile deals, high-roller hotel suites, and million-dollar yachts, the profit-loving pair makes the mistake of recruiting a motor-mouthed mob flunky (Jon Lovitz) to earn some extra income under the table. At first the cash is rolling in, but when word gets out that Jack and Michael have ties to the Mob, the resulting scandal turns their life of luxury into a living hell. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Comedy

Awards: Film Presented – Toronto International Film Festival Film Presented – AFI Fest Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: Casino Jack: A director's photo diary
Gag reel
Deleted scenes

Casino Jack

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 04/05/2011

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DHMA null

Runtime: 108 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: Spanish

Region: Blu-ray region A (North America, Central America, South America, Japan, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia)

Jason Buchanan

Thank goodness that the late George Hickenlooper's biographical expos? of Jack Abramoff and the dubious Washington, D.C. lobbying system leans more toward comedy than serious drama while detailing the downfall of the disgraced super-lobbyist, because otherwise it might be one of the most depressing movies of the decade. Like Mary Poppins once said, "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down," and thanks to a whip-smart script by Norman Snider, a snappy original score by Jonathan Goldsmith, and dynamic performances by Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, and Jon Lovitz, in particular, Casino Jack manages to amuse at the same time that it cynically reveals just how hopelessly broken the American political system has become due to the bottomless pit of greed that threatens to swallow our nation's capitol whole. When Jack Abramoff (Spacey) and resourceful businessman Michael Scanlon (Pepper) team up to exert their influence over some the biggest players in Washington, D.C., their bid to strike it rich pays off, big-time. But somewhere between the high-profile deals, high-roller hotel suites, and million-dollar yachts, the profit-loving pair makes the mistake of recruiting a motor-mouthed mob flunky (Lovitz) to earn some extra income under the table. At first the cash is rolling in, but when a deal with a seedy floating casino goes awry and word gets out that Jack and Michael have ties to the Mob, the resulting scandal turns their life of luxury into a living hell. One needn't be well-schooled in the inner workings of Washington, D.C., to appreciate the point that director Hickenlooper and screenwriter Snider are making about the corrosive effects of lobbying by dramatizing the story of Jack Abramoff, because in addition to skillfully detailing exactly how the lobbying system works, the pair also does a commendable job of revealing precisely how the process destroys the integrity of all involved -- no matter how good their intentions may be. Every voter knows that politicians have a tendency to get so drunk with power that they forget their job is to serve the public, rather than control us, and Spacey personifies that wayward attitude with the kind of charismatic finesse that vividly reflects his subject's seductive allure -- to the point that we occasionally even sympathize with Abramoff, despite the fact that we realize his actions are deplorable. By refusing to paint in broad strokes, Snider plays up Abramoff's contradictions and complexities in a way that makes him fallibly human. Hickenlooper and Spacey help to accentuate this element of the character by highlighting Abramoff's conflicting attitudes between his personal and professional lives, and it's a testament to Spacey's talent that we come to recognize the connective tissue that binds the dual part of his character's personality. From his opening monologue on mediocrity to his frustrated, fiery response to the hypocritical politicians who happily took his cash before hanging him out to dry later on, Spacey is positively electric in the role. So much so that when we finally see news footage of the real Abramoff during the credits of the film, he frankly comes off as a little vanilla. And while Pepper's pupils seem to be made out of CG dollar signs throughout the film, leave it to Lovitz to effortlessly run away with some of the funniest moments in the entire film. His comic timing is impeccable as ever, and his slippery escape from a pair of FBI agents delivers one of Casino Jack's most unexpected -- and effective -- laughs. Eye-opening -- and at times repulsive -- in the way that it so adroitly reveals how easily our politicians can be bought and paid for, Casino Jack finds director Hickenlooper going out on a high note for the way he at once informs and entertains viewers without giving his film a hint of damning, you-should-have-known-better smugness. His final film highlights a growing talent for narrative storytelling driven by the passion of an experienced documentary filmmaker. For that and many other reasons, it's a shame we lost him so soon. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Jonathan Goldsmith  Composer (Music Score) 
George Hickenlooper  Director 
Norman Snider  Screenwriter 
George Zakk  Producer 
Donald Zuckerman  Executive Producer 
Gary Howsam  Producer 
Dana Brunetti  Executive Producer 
Lewin Webb  Executive Producer 
Richard Rionda Del Castro  Executive Producer 
Patricia Eberle  Executive Producer 
Bill Marks  Producer 
Domenic Serafino  Executive Producer 
Warren Nimchuk  Executive Producer 
Angelo Paletta  Executive Producer 
Kevin Spacey  Actor 
Barry Pepper  Actor 
Jon Lovitz  Actor 
Kelly Preston  Actor 
Rachelle Lefevre  Actor 
Daniel Kash  Actor 
Graham Greene  Actor 
Maury Chaykin  Actor 
Christian Campbell  Actor 
Yannick Bisson  Actor 
Spencer Garrett  Actor 
Conrad Pla  Actor 
Ruth Marshall  Actor 
Sima Fisher  Actor 
Xenia Siamas  Actor 
Hannah Endicott-Douglas  Actor 
Joe Pingue  Actor 
David Fraser  Actor 
Cindy Dolenc  Actor 
Paolo Mancini  Actor 
Graham Abbey  Actor 
Judah Katz  Actor 
Nancy Beatty  Actor 
Matt Gordon  Actor 
Jeffrey R. Smith  Actor 
Jason Weinberg  Actor 
Jeff Pustil  Actor 
Kristin Hinton  Actor 
Reid Morgan  Actor 
Damir Andrei  Actor 
Brian Paul  Actor 
Andrea Davis  Actor 
John David Whalen  Actor 
Anna Hardwick  Actor 
Cynthia Amsden  Actor 
Balford Gordon  Actor 
Adam Waxman  Actor 
Paul Stephen  Actor 
Stephen Chambers  Actor 

Country: Canada,USA