Bagman

George Hickenlooper (director) and Kevin Spacey (Jack Abramoff – Casino Jack) have made a winner. Based on the true story of a Washington lobbyist who created the biggest scandal in the Capital since Watergate, the film is ingenious and funny, replete with first-rate performances. Casino Jack will be a box office success when it hits theatres. The Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff knows no limits to his hubris. Spacey's portrayal of the arrogant, manipulative, dynasty building political criminal is pitch perfect. Michael Scanlon (Barry Pepper) is the sidekick/accomplice...

You'll enjoy this modern day version of 'floating' casinos, mixed with Indian casinos and politics'! Gives you an idea of how lobbyist work and manipulate the system. Can't wait for 'Atlas Shrugged' to come out. Greed and corruption that takes place behind the scenes has, and will always be present. America needs a better 'checks and balance' system to hold these Movers and Shakers accountable. How is it possible that Jack received such a light sentence for his actions? Becomes fully understandable when one observes the Senate Panel questioning him, and realizes they were thankful he 'pled the 5th' and kept his mouth shut! Love the way Jack adds movie quotes into his everyday dealings with people.

CASINO JACK – TRASH IT ( C- ) Casino Jack is really Bad because it was trying to be extra smart about how things went down during Jack Abramoff Scheming and involving the whole Washington D.C. watching a true story on cellulite is fascinating but this one was painfully tiring. The director tried to make an over smart movie about Jack Abramoff, which was hard for as an audience to get grip off. I had to literally forward the movie time to time, it was TOO much to Handle. Kevin Spacey was Incredible and makes me wonder why we don't see him more often in movies. Barry Pepper was a perfect protégé, his performance was really inspiring. Rachelle Lefevre looked Stunning with her Red Locks. Kelly Preston was okay. Overall, trying to be a Over smart doesn't work this time, so, if you have to forward a movie, it means its pretty Boring.

Movies like this, Spinning Boris, Barbarians at the Gate, Recount, bla bla bla... A lot of the reviewers on this board are treating this like a real movie and complaining about the style, the pacing, the acting, or whatever. They don't realize that the HBO docudrama is a genre of its own, and they all are directed like this, and have this kind of music and structure and pacing and so on. If you've seen one, you've seen them all. They are fakey, boringly executed accounts of real things that happened, they feel like they take a million years to watch, and they really only appeal to people the first time they see one. Republican culture is full of sleazy, cynical con artists with big dreams that hinge on manipulating people and ripping them off. This movie is about two such men, Jack Abramoff and Mike Scanlon, and they are worthless people that no one with a soul can empathize with or relate to at all. Watching them make their plans and cheat people and be disloyal to their friends and lovers is boring. there's no entertainment value to it. In movies like this it is important for the screenwriters to feel that they've painted their main character as an irascible, charismatic character, rascally and witty, full of little zinger lines and whatnot. The real Jack Abramoff seems to be a boring douchebag, and he probably did constantly do impressions of celebrities, but I doubt he was as interesting to watch as Kevin Spacey (who is not interesting enough to save this movie).

The movie was superb, with all the sarcasm and criticism one could imagine in the lobby business in states. Especially, the mimicry and flawless impersonation of Kevin Spacey makes it even more wonderful. For those, who admire spacey and his work, its a must watch. Witty jokes and all the inside jobs on the senate of the United States are fairly portrayed intelligently. George Hickenlooper, of whom we are not a big fan off, especially after a flick like factory girl, does to some extent pull this one off somehow. the movie never seems to bore you for a moment or so, and keeps up the pace. My vote is 3.8 stars for the movie out of 5. you wont be disappointed!

The past few months has been filled with highs and lows for the Hickenlooper family. Mayor Denver John Hickenlooper was recently elected to be Governor of Colorado while his cousin George Hickenlooper created his filmatic masterpiece "Casino Jack" also known as "Bagman." Governor elect John Hickenlooper even has a cameo as a politician sitting next to Senator John McCain in the closing scenes of the film. However, this success and the premier of "Casino Jack" at the Denver Film Festival has been shadowed by the death of director George Hickenlooper on October 29, 2010. Hickenlooper teams up with two-time Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey (Best Actor "American Beauty", Best Supporting Actor "The Usual Suspects") to create "Casino Jack." Hickenlooper is the dealer and Spacey is his Ace with his portrayal of Washington DC lobbyist Jack Ambramoff. He starts off as a harmless lobbyist, but is corrupted with wealth and power. He trusts the wrong people to get ahead. He gets mixed up with a man named Adam Kidan played by Jon Livitz (Santurday Night Live) and his connections with the mob. Ambramoff and his colleague Michael Scanlon (Barry Pepper) success is short lived in the casino business and are charged with fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion in 2006. The film has some of the best if not the best cinematography of the year beginning with its opening scene showing Ambramoff talking to himself while looking at his bathroom mirror. The scene is filmed with a series of brilliantly articulated camera angles setting the tone for the rest of the film. Award winning actor Kevin Spacey takes control of his character meshing his personality and personal touch of acting with the corrupt character of the man he plays. He works with Hickenlooper's mastery of direction mixing comedy with fast paced crime in order to end his film career on a very sad but very high note with this year's Oscar dark horse. The chaotic performance of Jon Lovitz helps create the dark comedic feel of the film and defines the meaning of corruption. Barry Pepper's character Michael Scanlon is even more corrupted by Kidan than Ambramoffgiven giving him some of the best dialogue in the film including one liners and memorable interactions with the other characters. At first glance the film does not seem very original and seems to have been on over and over again. The trailer to the film itself uses the Rolling Stones' song "Sympathy for the Devil" which just so happens to be the same song used for Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" sequel. Therefore, the film is very predictable and it is very obvious how the film is going to end. Hicenlooper's film is all about the attention to the little and simple details. The ego of Ambramoff is captured in many ways in the film, but the most effective comes from a very small reoccurring subtle action. Ambramoff's pride in staying in shape is expressed as he carries weights with him while he is working along with a statement that begins and ends the film. However, is this enough to save him? Ambramoff states, "I am Jack Ambramoff and oh yeah I work out everyday."

How long can you screw someone before you get caught? The true story of super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Spacy) and his partner Michael Scanlon (Pepper). After finding a contribution loophole, Abramoff and Scanlon begin to exploit this and become very, very rich. I enjoyed this movie. I like true story movies, and I really enjoy political ones too. There was a lot of stuff in here I didn't know about. The amount he took and the favors he gave out are astounding. This movie really exposes the lengths that he and other senators will go to in order to get what they want. The movie is filled with different movie quotes from the "Godfather", "Rocky" and others, which is fun (Spacy is a pretty good impressionist). Overall I really liked this movie, and found myself liking Abramoff even less then before. The amount of money he through around to get his way is enough to make you sick, especially when you think a lot of our tax money went to helping him by a casino boat. Abramoff gets an F, as for the movie, I give it a B+. Would I watch again? - Yes I would, this is the kind of movie I like

source: Bagman

You'll enjoy this modern day version of 'floating' casinos, mixed with Indian casinos and politics'! Gives you an idea of how lobbyist work and manipulate the system. Can't wait for 'Atlas Shrugged' to come out. Greed and corruption that takes place behind the scenes has, and will always be present. America needs a better 'checks and balance' system to hold these Movers and Shakers accountable. How is it possible that Jack received such a light sentence for his actions? Becomes fully understandable when one observes the Senate Panel questioning him, and realizes they were thankful he 'pled the 5th' and kept his mouth shut! Love the way Jack adds movie quotes into his everyday dealings with people.

CASINO JACK – TRASH IT ( C- ) Casino Jack is really Bad because it was trying to be extra smart about how things went down during Jack Abramoff Scheming and involving the whole Washington D.C. watching a true story on cellulite is fascinating but this one was painfully tiring. The director tried to make an over smart movie about Jack Abramoff, which was hard for as an audience to get grip off. I had to literally forward the movie time to time, it was TOO much to Handle. Kevin Spacey was Incredible and makes me wonder why we don't see him more often in movies. Barry Pepper was a perfect protégé, his performance was really inspiring. Rachelle Lefevre looked Stunning with her Red Locks. Kelly Preston was okay. Overall, trying to be a Over smart doesn't work this time, so, if you have to forward a movie, it means its pretty Boring.