Just about any movie set in Washington is going to be about corruption. Washington seems to attract corruption like a flame attracts moths. Jack Abramoff (played by Kevin Spacey) was one lobbyist playing the corruption game that everyone else was playing; he just went a little too far.
Abramoff was called a super lobbyist. What is a lobbyist? "Casino Jack" gave us the definition at the very beginning of the movie:
1.) a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest.
2.) a person who tries to influence public officials to take a desired action.
Abramoff was a republican who had access to some of the top republicans on Capitol Hill. Who all he lobbied for was never mentioned, but his biggest client seemed to be the Chippewa tribe. They are an American Indian tribe who, like many, have a gaming casino on their reservation. Abramoff got in hot water when he and his partner Michael Scanlon (played by Barry Pepper) began fleecing Native American tribes for millions of dollars claiming that he was lobbying on their behalf to give them a leg up in the Indian Casino business. He further got his hands dirty when he got in bed with Adam Kidan (played by Jon Lovitz) to purchase a floating casino company called SunSail.
What's of importance here is that Abramoff was so blinded by money he was willing to do business with shady characters and scam an entire group of people in order to get it. What's also important is that politicians were willing to go in front of congress and say anything they were instructed to so long as there was a check given.
"Casino Jack" shows the story in a rather light-hearted manner. Even though what he did was serious, the movie was done as if to show what a joke he was and what a joke Washington is. Count me amongst the fans of this movie. I never tire of movies exposing the ugly underbelly of Washington D. C.
Abramoff was called a super lobbyist. What is a lobbyist? "Casino Jack" gave us the definition at the very beginning of the movie:
1.) a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest.
2.) a person who tries to influence public officials to take a desired action.
Abramoff was a republican who had access to some of the top republicans on Capitol Hill. Who all he lobbied for was never mentioned, but his biggest client seemed to be the Chippewa tribe. They are an American Indian tribe who, like many, have a gaming casino on their reservation. Abramoff got in hot water when he and his partner Michael Scanlon (played by Barry Pepper) began fleecing Native American tribes for millions of dollars claiming that he was lobbying on their behalf to give them a leg up in the Indian Casino business. He further got his hands dirty when he got in bed with Adam Kidan (played by Jon Lovitz) to purchase a floating casino company called SunSail.
What's of importance here is that Abramoff was so blinded by money he was willing to do business with shady characters and scam an entire group of people in order to get it. What's also important is that politicians were willing to go in front of congress and say anything they were instructed to so long as there was a check given.
"Casino Jack" shows the story in a rather light-hearted manner. Even though what he did was serious, the movie was done as if to show what a joke he was and what a joke Washington is. Count me amongst the fans of this movie. I never tire of movies exposing the ugly underbelly of Washington D. C.