CASINO JACK and the United States of Money

Watching a documentary about Jack Abramoff reminds you just how corrupt Washington, D.C. really is. Abramoff and Tom Delay are real pieces of political work. They are a disgrace to the political legacy of our founding fathers. Yes, we know Abramoff and his buddies were all crooks of top caliber… but the documentary bounces from revealing to predictable.

First.. some pedestrian movie-going feedback. The documentary was just too long. It lacked the depth and storytelling to keep your interest. At just two hours, the storytelling seems to drag for three hours. You know it’s dragging when you start looking at your watch and wondering, “Can I make it to the grocery before they close?”  EXTRA: Washington Post Review

Now… the story. Let’s get it out on the table. Abramoff and his merry men deserve everything they receive from the justice system, the “big bubbas” in jail and more. The arrogance in real life abounds. The extent of crimes and the secretive nature of their ridiculous plots were hard to grasp in real life. That’s the biggest trouble with the documentary as well. There is so much that these political thugs did in real life that it was even harder to pull together in a well-told story for the big screen. The documentary becomes predictable when one “chapter” of the scandal ends… and another begins. Even the graphic treatment in the transitions on screen were predictable.

So what is there to see if you invest your time and money? Well, it’s a story of horrible DC politics that needs to be shared over and over. Kevin Spacey is so perfectly boring that it’s interesting. So, my score is TWO of FIVE monuments. In this case, I’ll use the very disgraced U.S. Capitol.