Mystery Screening

The mysterious “mystery screening” on the last night of the Starz Denver film Festival turned out to be a real treat for the audience because the film won’t come out until next fall, in time for awards season in 2011. The film was Casino Jack, directed by George Hickenlooper, whose documentary about the Democratic National Convention and Denver mayor John Hickenlooper Hick Town premiered earlier that same day.

Casino Jack focuses on the Jack Abramoff scandal that rocked the halls of Congress and brought down the powerful and corrupt House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in 2005. Kevin Spacey, who plays Abramoff, and Kelly Preston, who plays his wife Pam, both turn in superb performances. Spacey really inhabits Abramoff from his monologue at the beginning. It is perhaps his best performance since American Beauty. Preston grounds the film, making us feel empathetic for a moment toward Abramoff and his family. (Also turning in a good performance: Denver mayor John Hickenlooper makes a cameo, and even has a line in the film.)

Director George Hickenlooper uses the story to explore a couple of themes: One, the American Dream, which Abramoff twists into a delusional fantasy. Abramoff’s recklessness and irresponsible spending and quest for power and influence is closely tied (and mirrored) with that of George W. Bush. Abramoff is held up as Exhibit A to all that was wrong with the Bush Administration and the Republican-controlled Congress.

Two, the film also explores the sleazy, bare-knuckled way Congress does business, specifically the way Congressmen prostitute their votes to lobbyists and special interests in exchange for hefty campaign contributions. One cannot even begin to imagine the kind of backroom arm-twisting lobbyists are doing right now while the Senate debates health reform legislation.

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