{"id":2355,"date":"2013-04-08T10:00:29","date_gmt":"2013-04-08T10:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/?p=2355"},"modified":"2013-04-07T02:30:43","modified_gmt":"2013-04-07T02:30:43","slug":"lost-review-casino-jack-and-the-united-states-of-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2013\/04\/08\/lost-review-casino-jack-and-the-united-states-of-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost Review: Casino Jack and the United States of Money"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beginning in December 2005 with my history of apes in film essay \u201cGorilla of Your Dreams\u201d (the\u00a0substantially\u00a0update and\u00a0revised\u00a0version\u00a0appears in\u00a0The Apes of Wrath<\/em><\/a>), I regularly contributed to\u00a0Moving Pictures Magazine<\/em>. First in the print incarnation and then for primarily the website. I contributed reviews and essays for the last three years of the publications existence. Following the June 2011 demise of both the print and website editions, all of the digital work for\u00a0MPM<\/em>\u00a0disappeared into the ether. In the coming months (years?), I plan on reposting many of my reviews and articles.<\/p>\n

Another film available via streaming on Netflix, the fascinating documentary Casino Jack and the United States of Money<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>attempts to explain the whole\u00a0Jack Abramoff scandal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Casino Jack and the United States of Money<\/i><\/p>\n

Review by Rick Klaw<\/p>\n

Directed by\u00a0Alex Gibney<\/p>\n

Like many Americans, filmmaker Alex Gibney (Taxi to The Dark Side<\/i>) had never heard of Jack Abramoff until his damning non-testimony before the 2004 John McCain-lead Senate hearings into Indian casino irregularities. By taking the Fifth, the lobbyist managed to focus the media spotlight upon his own activities. Gibney’s explorations into this previously-unknown Republican power player form the basis for the entertaining and insightful documentary Casino Jack and the United States of Money<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Rather than the beginning, Gibney wisely starts near the end of the Abramoff saga with an attention grabbing new report about the vicious, gangland-style slaying of Greek businessman Konstantinos Boulis on the streets of Fort Lauderdale. Abramoff and partner Adam Kidan, former bagel store entrepreneur with mob ties and founder of the multi-million dollar Dial-A-Mattress franchise, engaged in spurious business dealings when acquiring Boulis’ chain of luxury liner casinos.<\/p>\n

Gibney maps out the rise and fall the complex Abramoff, who after seeing Fiddler on the Roof <\/i>at fourteen , became a Conservative Jew. While as an undergraduate at Brandeis University, Abramoff joined the College Republicans where he met his later allies\u2014Ralph Reed, former head of the Christian Coalition, and Grover Norquist, founder of Americans for Tax Reform\u2014 and organized student volunteers for Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign. After earning a law degree at Georgetown, Abramoff joined Citizens for America, which supported \u201cfreedom fighters\u201d in Nicaragua and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Setting aside his political aspirations from 1988-1994, Abramoff served as the president of Regency Entertainment. He produced and actually co-wrote (with his brother Robert) the laughable anti-communist thriller and Dolph Lundgren vehicle, Red Scorpion<\/i> (1989).<\/p>\n

Gibney expertly reveals Abramoff’s early history through a series of thoughtful interviews with conservative political analyst J. Michael Waller, former Representative Bob Ney; Ney\u2019s former-aide-turned-lobbyist, Neil Volz; and Nina Easton, author of Gang of Five: Leaders at the Center of the Conservative Crusade<\/i>. Though he managed to interview the incarcerated Abramoff, Gibney was not allowed to use those recorded conversations. Cleverly, the director relied on the voice talents of Stanley Tucci to relay Abramoff’s essential testimony throughout Casino Jack and the United States of Money<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Upon returning to politics, Abramoff found his true calling as a high powered Washington lobbyist. It was in this role that he engaged in some of his most nefarious behavior. Abramoff championed the free market ideology when dealing with Congressional representatives Under the cover of campaign donations, he peddled favors at the highest political levels.<\/p>\n

Along with some questionable dealings with Russian oil companies and the US-controlled Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, Abramoff represented several Native American tribes and their casino interests. These actions combined with the Abramoff’s slanderous emails about his clients\u2014in one he referred to the Indians as \u201ctroglodytes\u201d\u2014eventually led to his demise.<\/p>\n

While tracking this labyrinthine tale, Gibney relies on a slew of revealing on-camera interviews with the likes of Susan Schmidt, the Washington Post <\/i>journalist who broke the Abramoff story; <\/i>reporter Shawn Martin, who followed the angle of the Indian tribes; Thomas Frank, author of The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Ruined Government, Enriched Themselves and Beggared The <\/i>Nation<\/i>; and Robert G. Kaiser, author of So Damn Much Money: The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government<\/i>. In the film’s most intriguing interview, deposed House Majority Leader Tom DeLay reveled in his own audacity. Known as \u201cThe Hammer,\u201d DeLay maintained his iron-fisted control of the House Republicans through Abermof’s machinations. In a perfect coda, Gibney overlays the final credits with DeLay’s appearance on Dancing With<\/i> The Stars<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Between the interviews and news reports, movie clips and popular music supply nimble transitions. Excerpts from Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Patton<\/i>, The Manchurian Candidate<\/i> and footage from the \u201cSchoolhouse Rock\u201d animated music video \u201cI\u2019m Just a Bill\u201d provide much needed levity.<\/p>\n

Gibney’s superior documentary deftly chronicles the parable of Jack Abramoff by placing his outrageous story within its proper historical and political context. Ultimately, Casino Jack and the United States of Money<\/i> serves as warning that unscrupulous men have always abused the unwary and unless we are vigilant, will again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beginning in December 2005 with my history of apes in film essay \u201cGorilla of Your Dreams\u201d (the\u00a0substantially\u00a0update and\u00a0revised\u00a0version\u00a0appears in\u00a0The Apes of Wrath), I regularly contributed to\u00a0Moving Pictures Magazine. First in the print incarnation and then for primarily the website. I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n