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Lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Kevin Spacey), left, discusses a scheme with a shady partner (Jon Lovitz) in “Casino Jack.” |
Most fans of Kevin Spacey probably know the Oscar-winning actor is a gifted mimic who can replicate celebrity voices with uncanny precision.
He once called “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson’s office and ordered premium tickets for himself by imitating Carson’s voice. The secretary thought she was talking to her boss.
So, it probably seemed like an inspired idea to cast Spacey as Jack Abramoff in George Hickenlooper’s “Casino Jack,” a drama “inspired by” the true story of the super GOP lobbyist who apparently loved to quote famous movie lines before he was hung out to dry by the very politicians who accepted money from him and his varied clients.
When Spacey cuts loose with dead-on impressions of Al Pacino, Walter Matthau and other recognizable Hollywood icons, the effect undermines what little credibility “Casino Jack” musters as a work of drama, let alone a real-life rise-and-fall story.
How seriously can we take a movie where the main character breaks into movie star impersonations at key moments?
Instead of being a winning con man who draws us into his schemes of wealth and power, Spacey’s Abramoff becomes a prickly, irritating presence that fails to explain how so many people could fall for his pitches.
“Casino Jack” opens with a dramatic monologue delivered by Abramoff to himself in a mirror. He justifies his ego and lambastes mediocrity in a succinct speech that instantly and powerfully establishes his character.
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