Casino Jack (2010)

A hot shot Washington DC lobbyist and his protégé go down hard as their schemes to peddle influence lead to corruption and murder.

Director:

George Hickenlooper

Writer:

Norman Snider

Stars:

Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, Jon Lovitz

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Spacey	...	Jack Abramoff
Ruth Marshall	...	Susan Schmidt
Graham Greene	...	Bernie Sprague
Hannah Endicott-Douglas	...	Sarah Abramoff
Barry Pepper	...	Michael Scanlon
John Robinson	...	Federal Agent Patterson
Jason Weinberg	...	Snake
Spencer Garrett	...	Tom DeLay
Yok Come Ho	...	Asian Factory Worker
Anna Hardwick	...	Lobbyist #2
John David Whalen	...	Kevin Ring
Matt Gordon	...	Bill
Jeffrey R. Smith	...	Grover Norquist
Christian Campbell	...	Ralph Reed
Eric Schweig	...	Chief Poncho

Storyline

A hot shot Washington DC lobbyist and his protégé go down hard as their schemes to peddle influence lead to corruption and murder.

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Plot Keywords:

bagman | scene during end credits | ends with real life footage | character name as title | nickname as title | 

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Taglines:

Honor. Integrity. Principles. Everything is Negotiable.

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language, some violence and brief nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

There are references to Abramoff's part in Bush's win in the 2000 election. In Recount (2008) Spacey plays Ron Klain, Gore's attorney during the election controversy.

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Goofs

When Jack is shown teaching screen-writing to fellow inmates, he has written on the board the film title 'Papillion' rather than 'Papillon'.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jack Abramoff: You know, I do a shitload of reading and studying and praying, and I've come to a few conclusions I want to share. People look at politicians and celebrities on the TV and the newspapers, glossy magazines - what do they see? "I'm just like them." That's what they say. "I'm special. I'm different. I could be any one of them." Well guess what, you can't. You know why? Cause in reality, mediocrity is where most people live. Mediocrity is the elephant in the room. It's ubiquitous. ...

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Crazy Credits

Brief footage of the real Jack Abramoff's introduction speech of Tom DeLay is shown during the end credits.

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Connections

References Red Scorpion (1988)

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Soundtracks

Hava Nagila
Traditional
Performed by The Barry Sisters
Courtesy of Warner Music Canada Co.

User Reviews

Kevin Spacey delivers a superb performance!

Kevin Spacey is truly an actor to adore. The Two-Time Academy-Award Winner has proved his talent time and again. In 'Casino Jack', he gets even better and delivers a superb performance.

'Casino Jack' is based on Jack Abramoff. Abramoff, is one of the most notorious lobbyist's ever. 'Casino Jack', however focuses, on the time when Abramoff & his protégé went down hard...as their schemes to peddle influence lead to corruption and a brutal murder.

Director George Hickenlooper does a good job, while Norman Snider's writing is flawed. The writing in the first hour is spot-on, but in the second hour, it falters. Even the culmination for that matter, doesn't leave the desired impact. Acting wise, as told, Spacey owns the film. He plays Abramoff superbly. He truly is an Icon! Barry Pepper is Excellent.

On the whole, 'Casino Jack' can be viewed once, for it's lead star's performance. Must for Spacey Fans!

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 January 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bagman

Filming Locations:

Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$12,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$34,528, 19 December 2010

Gross USA:

$1,042,959

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,230,933

Company Credits

Production Co:

An Olive Branch Productions, Bagman (2009), Hannibal Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1