CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY (Alex Gibney, U.S.). 120 minutes. Saturday (May 8), 7 pm, Isabel Bader. Rating: NNNN
Alex Gibney’s look at the pervasive corruption that helped hobble the Republican party in the last decade – all of which went back in some way to master influence-peddler Jack Abram off, who pled guilty to multiple felo nies in 2006 – will only be shocking if you still believe politicians are decent, upstanding folk who would never dare sell their votes to corporate or indivi dual interests. Those of us who actually follow the news will be happy to see this handy summary of the scandal.
Gibney, who made Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room and the Oscar-winning Taxi To The Dark Side, traces Abramoff’s rise from college Republican golden boy to well-connected friend of the famous, always appearing in photos with the same shit-eating grin. And why not? He’s palling around with the brightest stars in Congress, selling their services to sweatshop owners in American Saipan and to native American casino owners in Michigan and Louisiana, among others. And he’s raking in millions of dollars for himself, his cronies and his political pals.
The tragedy is that he didn’t create the system, but merely perfected it. And as Gibney shows us in exacting, entertaining detail, most everyone was happy to go along for the lucrative ride.[rssbreak]