Casino Jack and the United States of Money
When Jack Abramoff is released from prison late this year, he will not benefit from having been out of sight, his crimes a fading memory. Instead, the former lobbyist who contributed to massive levels of corruption in the US government is the subject of not one but two 2010 films chronicling his breathtakingly expansive crimes. One is a dramatized biopic starring Kevin Spacey, due in early fall. The documentary version, by Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room), Casino Jack and the United States of Money, preps you for the whirling scope of what you're in for. Truth be told, there's simply too much information crammed into Casino: even with director Gibney's expeditious filmmaking tactics it's hard to synthesize the significance of every transgression before the film moves on to the next.
by Marjorie Skinner