Casino Jack

Casino Jack casts Kevin Spacey as notorious lobbyist Jack Abramoff, with the film effectively detailing the character’s rise and fall over a two year period of time. It’s clear immediately that filmmaker George Hickenlooper deserves credit for opening the proceedings to viewers with little or no knowledge of Abramoff’s exploits, as the director does a nice job of setting up the various players and their respective roles. Spacey’s expectedly magnetic turn as Abramoff certainly proves instrumental in initially capturing the viewer’s interest, as the actor effortlessly transforms his character into a compelling and surprisingly likeable figure. (It doesn’t hurt that the film begins with an absolutely transfixing sequence in which Abramoff delivers a lengthy monologue into a bathroom mirror, although, as becomes clear, the remainder of the proceedings simply can’t live up to its promise.) Casino Jack‘s politics-heavy modus operandi eventually does become something of an obstacle to one’s enjoyment, and there’s little doubt that the film will hold more appeal for those viewers with an inherent interest in the subject matter. Hickenlooper’s playful sensibilities (ie the movie is, for example, often a lot funnier than one might’ve anticipated) is ultimately unable to compensate for the familiarity of the narrative, as screenwriter Norman Snider employs a structure that feels as though it’d be more at home within a Scorsese picture. The end result is a sporadically compelling yet lamentably uneven endeavor that is simply unable to wholeheartedly sustain the viewer’s interest from start to finish, though there’s certainly no downplaying the effectiveness of Spacey’s Oscar-worthy turn as the title character.

** out of ****