Another review I read perfectly summarized Casino Jack by saying something like "if someone made a fictional movie with this story-line, no-one would believe it".
It was hugely topical that we should see the film yesterday, the day that ex house of representatives majority leader Tom DeLay was sentenced to three years in prison for various financial shenanigans, including taking bribes from lobbyist Jack Abramoff (aka Casino Jack).
But despite that timing, and the truth being stranger than fiction, what let the movie down was that it added nothing whatsoever to the facts. Pretty much everyone knows what lobbyists in DC do, and that Abramoff was one of the most prolific lobbyists of our generation.
The facts were played out without much added drama, and with little more than superficial coverage. It was one of those cases where we were aching to discover the secrets behind the newspaper accounts, and yet got nothing.
Perhaps the only insight was the degree to which Michael Scanlon, Abramoff's partner, was revealed as a slimeball. He seemed to add no value, could not negotiate, and his womanizing led to the partnership's downfall.
As Jack Abramoff said at the beginning of the film, this paying people to influence people is "American democracy in action", and only a fine line needs to be crossed before lobbying becomes bribery.
No comments:
Post a Comment