The movie made a great deal out of Casino Jack's Jewishness. The problem however, at least for me, is that every time I looked at Kevin Spacey, I saw an Irishman. Whatever Kevin Spacey is, ethically, doesn't matter, but he looks terrible for this part. I found it hugely distracting. This is not a plea for stereotypical casting but for intelligent consideration of how actors come across. There were many inadvertent laughable moments in the film and also a few, too few, deliberate LOL moments. There were excellent performances by Jon Lovitz and Maury Chaykin—they almost made the film worth watching. I think part of the problem with the construction of the film is that the target audience had not been fully decided: Was the intended audience viewers who didn't have a clue about Abramoff, viewers who knew a little bit, or who knew a great deal and wanted to see it played out on the screen? I suspect the film is mostly viewed by those who know the story, and therefore it was annoying to hear all the primers, the explanations by the characters of the players and their history. Not a successful film, but I liked being reminded of this sordid story, which, alas, is an on-going story in American government.
Review of Casino Jack
