Casino Jack: movie review
Kevin Spacey gives a bravura performance as superlobbyist Jack Abramoff in the late George Hickenlooper鈥檚 uneven but often loopily entertaining 鈥淐asino Jack,鈥� written by Norman Snider. Spacey is usually tiptop in movies that bring out his inner sleazeball. (Conversely, he鈥檚 dullish in movies where virtuousness is key, like 鈥淧ay It Forward.鈥�) In 鈥淐asino Jack,鈥� he burnishes Abramoff鈥檚 sleaze to a fine polish.
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It鈥檚 impossible to entirely hate Jack, even at his most hateful, and this is in keeping with the man himself 鈥� who, after all, staked his highly successful career on buttering people up big-time. There are other good performances: Barry Pepper as Jack鈥檚 right-hand man Michael Scanlon; Jon Lovitz as a crooked Florida mattress salesman who joins forces with Jack; and the late Maury Chaykin, the great Canadian actor, who plays a mob kingpin and whose last screen appearance this is. Grade: B (Rated R for pervasive language, some violence and brief nudity.)
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