Casino Jack is a 2010 biographical political thriller satire comedy film directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Kevin Spacey.
The film focuses on the career of Washington, D.C. lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff, who was involved in a massive corruption scandal that led to his conviction, two White House officials, Rep. Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional staffers. Abramoff was convicted of fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion in 2006, and of trading expensive gifts, meals and sports trips in exchange for political favors. Abramoff served three and a half years of a six-year sentence in federal prison, and was then assigned to a halfway house. He was released on December 3, 2010.
This film contains examples of:
- Affably Evil: Jack Abramoff.
-
Broken Aesop: The movie seems to argue Jack did nothing wrong which wasn't being done by others. Regardless of the fact that Jack didn't actually do much lobbying on behalf of Native Americans in exchange for the millions he was paid. - Conspicuous Consumption: A highlight of Jack's life.
- The Dragon: Michael Scanlon.
- Hypocrite: The take on Washington's legislature by Jack during his trial.
- Lighter and Softer: Jack is portrayed sympathetically despite the fact he was ripping off Native Americans by the tens of millions.
- The Load: Jon Lovitz's Adam Kidan is this to Jack.
- Native American Casino: A source of vast wealth Jack takes advantage of.
- Too Dumb to Live: Making a deal with the mafia in the first place when so many millions and public officials were involved.
- White-Collar Crime: Jack's habits in a nutshell. He's fired for it from his first job and goes on to be even worse about it.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Adam Kidan has a number of mafia associates who postulate this solution to Jack. They eventually do, making things worse.
