Casino Jack

Movie: Casino Jack

Cast:    Kevin Spacey              (Jack Abramoff)

            Barry Pepper               (Michael Scanlon)

            Kelly Preston              (Pam Abramoff)

            Jon Lovitz                   (Adam Kidan)

            Maury Chaykin           (Big Tony)

Genre: Drama

I saw it on: January 8, 2010

Synopsis: We follow the rise and fall of Jack Abramoff.  He rose to be the most powerful lobbyist in Washington, with Members of Congress literally at his beck and call.  One Indian tribe alone was paying him $1 million per month for his lobbying efforts.  Unfortunately a lot of these efforts never amounted to more than just collecting the money.  Eventually a betrayed woman and an angry tribal leader led to his downfall.

The movie names names and does not pull any punches.  It culminates with Jack before a Senate hearing chaired by John McCain.

My two cents: A pretty good movie.  It serves a good reminder of just how powerful Jack Abramoff was and just how corrupt a lot of Washington big shots were (and are?).  The amounts of money that flowed through Abramoff’s hands is breathtaking.  Two roles that I particularly enjoyed was Jon Lovitz as a really shady business partner of Abramoff and Maury Chaykin playing Big Tony, a mob boss.  There was a lot more humor than I expected in the movie.

Of course, Kevin Spacey dominated any scene he is in.  Energy just seems to flow from him.

[8]

Blue Valentine

Movie: Blue Valentine

Cast:    Michelle Williams       (Cindy)

            Ryan Gosling              (Dean)

Genre: Drama

I saw it on: January 8, 2010

Synopsis: The movie follows two story lines.  One shows us how Cindy and Dean met, started dating and ended up married.  The second story is about the disintegration of their marriage.

My two cents: An interesting movie.  When I see Ryan Gosling, I always think of Lars from “Lars and the Real Girl”.  Dean is a far cry from Lars.  He has some nice qualities, but beneath the surface there is a cauldron of barely suppressed anger.  Cindy came from a household with a verbally abusive father.  It was interesting to see the effect the way her father had treated her mother had on Cindy’s own relationship as an adult.  I found it fascinating to watch how hurtful Dean could be to Cindy without laying a hand on his wife. It was like he was just waiting to twist whatever she said to be an affront or insult to him.

It was a good movie with some great acting, I am just not sure that, for me, it measured up to the hype.

[7]