Casino Jack | |
---|---|
Directed by | George Hickenlooper |
Produced by | Gary Howsam Bill Marks George Zakk |
Written by | Norman Snider |
Starring |
Kevin Spacey Barry Pepper Rachelle Lefevre Kelly Preston Jon Lovitz Maury Chaykin |
Music by | Jonathan Goldsmith |
Cinematography | Adam Swica |
Edited by | William Steinkamp |
Production
company |
Hannibal Pictures
Rollercoaster Entertainment |
Distributed by | Art Takes Over Films (ATO) |
Release date
|
|
Running time
|
108 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Budget | $12.5 million |
Box office | $1.1 million |
Casino Jack (known in certain territories as Bagman) is a 2010 action thriller comedy film directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Kevin Spacey. The film focuses on the career of Washington, D.C. lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff, who was involved in a massive corruption scandal that led to his conviction as well as the conviction of two White House officials, Rep. Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional staffers. Abramoff was convicted of fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion in 2006, and of trading expensive gifts, meals and sports trips in exchange for political favors. Abramoff served three and a half years of a six-year sentence in federal prison, and was then assigned to a halfway house. He was released on December 3, 2010.
Spacey was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Abramoff, eventually losing to Paul Giamatti for his role in Barney's Version.
A hot shot Washington DC lobbyist and his protégé go down hard as their schemes to peddle influence lead to corruption and murder.
Filming took place in June 2009 in various locations across Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, including McMaster University and downtown Hamilton. The film was scheduled for release in December 2010 and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.