‘Casino Jack and the United States of Money’ Infuriates While it Entertains

Printer-friendly versionE-mail page to friendPDF version

Rating: 4.5/5.0

CHICAGO – There’s a memorable moment in “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” in which one of director Alex Gibney’s interview subjects compares an Enron press conference to the musical sequence in “Chicago,” where a slickly manipulative lawyer has all of the city’s reporters on marionette strings.

I couldn’t help being reminded of another catchy “Chicago” show tune while watching Gibney’s latest so-infuriating-it’s-entertaining documentary, “Casino Jack and the United States of Money.” It’s the song belted out by Matron Mama Morton, who boasts, “Ask any of the chickies in my pen/They’ll tell you I’m the biggest mother hen/I love ‘em all and all of them love me/Because the system works, the system called/RE-CI-PRO-CI-TY.” I suggest that Gibney find a place for this number on his director’s cut. These lyrics succinctly describe the mentality of former megalobbyist Jack Abramoff, who embodies everything that is wrong with American politics today.

Read Matt Fagerholm’s full review of “Casino Jack and the United States of Money” in our reviews section.

Abramoff’s descent into jaw-dropping corruption is truly a story for the ages, and Gibney milks it for all it’s worth. We see Abramoff’s early years as a young boy so dazzled by the cinema that he converted to Conservative Judaism after seeing “Fiddler on the Roof.” He memorized the opening monologue from “Patton” with fellow College Republicans Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist, who substituted the word “Nazi” with “Democrat.” Abramoff would later try his hand at filmmaking by producing 1989’s anti-Communist action film, “Red Scorpion,” with Scandinavian star Dolph Lundgren doing a laughably awful Schwarzenegger impression.

Not only does Gibney supply some priceless clips of “Scorpion,” but he also captures the theatrical spirit of a man who largely seemed to have his head in the clouds. With a self-righteousness to match his towering ego, Abramoff convinced himself that he could get away with anything simply because he’s one of the “good guys.” When he wore a villainous fedora and trench coat to the court hearing that would land him in prison, it was Abramoff’s way of saying that Congress had cast him as the “bad guy,” while neglecting to share responsibility in the government’s sprawling, inherent corruption.

Continue reading for Matt Fagerholm’s full “Casino Jack and the United States of Money” review.

Casino Jack and the United States of Money
Photo credit: Magnolia