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Richard Corliss, Time: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...giddy fun, but no match for the sick thrill of the real perpetrators.... The big casting problem is Spacey.... Hickenlooper chose a fine actor without even a soupcon of chutzpah." (Read the full review...) 671 words, 12/31/10 Thelma Adams, Us Weekly: MODERATE (cg) "Spacey's manic and abrasive characterization comes off as unsympathetic... a movie that swings between broad comedy and glib political satire. Still, Kelly Preston touches as Abramoff's long-suffering wife, and Jon Lovitz finds the humor in playing a shabby coconspirator." (Read the full review...) 84 words, 01/06/11 Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...tonally scattershot and more than a little heavy-footed." (Read the full review...) 77 words, 12/31/10 Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Kevin Spacey has a ball and then some playing the devil inside Jack Abramoff... leans heavily on the comedy buttons in Norman Snider's script. Too heavily.... the movie nearly flies off its already shaky handle. Spacey holds center. He's a bonfire." (Read the full review...) 140 words, 12/16/10 Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: VERY GOOD (cg) "...so forthright, it is stunning.... It is Spacey's performance that contains most of the movie's mystery; although Abramoff's actions left little room for justification, in Spacey's performance, there is some." (Read the full review...) 858 words, 12/30/10 James Berardinelli, Reel Views: VERY GOOD (cg) "Kevin Spacey is the reason to see 'Casino Jack.' This movie will stand alongside 'The Usual Suspects' and 'American Beauty' as examples of what the actor is capable of accomplishing when he is properly motivated." (Read the full review...) 879 words, 12/15/10
A.O. Scott, New York Times: FAIR "...interesting, wildly uneven... it quickly becomes more frustrating than illuminating. A steadier narrative hand and a clearer satirical eye might have made the intrigue more intriguing and the humor more pointed." (Read the full review...) 816 words, 12/17/10 Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: WEAK (cg) "...shallow dramatization diminishes reality. The actors -- especially Pepper and Lovitz -- overplay their roles unnecessarily, and the generically slick visual style looks more appropriate for a TV movie." (Read the full review...) 330 words, 12/17/10 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times/Chicago Tribune: WEAK "Though the film is peppered with one-liners tailor-made for Spacey to sling with stinging effect, it doesn't so much leave you laughing as just weary, and wishing this weren't a true story at all." (Read the full review...) 666 words, 12/17/10 Lou Lumenick, New York Post: VERY GOOD (cg) "...hilariously entertaining... Hickenlooper does a good job of briskly explaining the complex scams at work, and there is fine supporting work by Kelly Preston... and Graham Greene... Spacey has a field day..." (Read the full review...) 365 words, 12/17/10 Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Uninformative but entertaining, with a surprise breakout performance from Jon Lovitz as a mopey mobster." (Read the full review...) 241 words, 01/07/11 Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD (cg) "...so forthright, it is stunning.... It is Spacey's performance that contains most of the movie's mystery; although Abramoff's actions left little room for justification, in Spacey's performance, there is some." (Read the full review...) 858 words, 12/30/10 J. Hoberman, Village Voice: WEAK "...an improbably blithe cautionary tale... [a] flat, obvious movie... dominated by Spacey's patented brand of smooth insincerity." (Read the full review...) 375 words, 12/15/10 Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: MODERATE (cg) "...really two movies: a convoluted tale about the exploits of disgraced Washington super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, coupled with a zealous-if-misguided performance from Kevin Spacey in the title role." (Read the full review...) 652 words, 01/28/11 Kate Taylor, Toronto Globe & Mail: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "The facts really get in the way of the portrait here... we are left hungry for more Spacey and more insight into a man with the hubris to wonder if he has disappointed God." (Read the full review...) 658 words, 01/28/11 Karina Longworth, LA Weekly: WEAK "...an overslick, telepic-esque telling of the long fall of Jack Abramoff.... It's fast-paced and stylish, but the performances are flat caricatures, and the script is laughably on-the-nose." (Read the full review...) 134 words, 11/04/10 Radheyan Simonpillai, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Once you get past the clichés, the unfortunate screenplay with its dependence on expository dialogue and even some of the lesser performances, [it] is a lot of fun." (Read the full review...) 227 words, 01/27/11
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: POOR (cg) "...merely a rehash of a well-worn scandal." (Read the full review...) 502 words, 12/22/10 Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: MODERATE (cg) "[An] overinflated account of super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff's downfall... its protagonist, played with hammy exuberance by Kevin Spacey, emerges with even less clarity than he does in the documentary 'Casino Jack and the United States of Money'..." (Read the full review...) 463 words, 01/07/11 Walter Addiego, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...anchored by a pair of amusing performances... It's a movie of sporadically entertaining scenes that add up to a vaguely unsatisfying whole." (Read the full review...) 426 words, 03/04/11 Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "[Director] Hickenlooper... throws caution to the wind [and] heavy-handedly tried to make sense of it all and then conjured up a movie with 'a Hollywood ending.' The trouble is, the Hollywood hustler Abramoff never actually provided one." (Read the full review...) 714 words, 01/28/11 Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: WEAK (cg) "Smug when it should be stiletto-sharp, fast-paced yet tedious... an unfortunate misfire." (Read the full review...) 567 words, 01/14/11 Joy Tipping, Dallas Morning News: OUTSTANDING (cg) "Spacey has pulled off the seemingly impossible.... He's created a character who, while often despicable, also comes off as ingenious, charming and sympathetic. It's a tour de force for Spacey, and a terrific (if sad) swan song for Hickenlooper." (Read the full review...) 426 words, 12/31/10 Ty Burr, Boston Globe: MODERATE (cg) "...glib, fast-paced entertainment that barely leaves a mark -- which, given the subject, is just plain wrong." (Read the full review...) 671 words, 01/07/11 Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: VERY GOOD (cg) "...well done.... a snappy ride through the corridors of power.... played with glee and smarts by Spacey..." (Read the full review...) 372 words, 01/07/11 Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...more lurid than damning, more splashy than refined." (Read the full review...) 228 words, 01/07/11 Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: VERY GOOD (cg) "Hickenlooper and co-conspirator Kevin Spacey are more successful at entertaining than informing or enraging us, but such a tart soufflé may be the best way for a fed-up public to digest this distasteful story." (Read the full review...) 489 words, 01/07/11 Tom Long, Detroit News: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "The sad thing is you can imagine someone seeing this film and thinking, 'If they just hadn't let it get out of hand.' Doubtlessly, there are others struggling right now to be the next Jack Abramoff. Pray for their failure." (Read the full review...) 312 words, 01/07/11 Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: MODERATE (cg) "The movie is never boring, and there's great fun in watching an energized, rakish Spacey cutting loose again. But the picture is a muddle: The broad humor often feels misplaced, the byzantine political shenanigans are confusing, and when the plot takes a sudden, violent turn, the change in tone is bewildering." (Read the full review...) 437 words, 01/07/11
J. Hoberman, Village Voice: WEAK "...an improbably blithe cautionary tale... [a] flat, obvious movie... dominated by Spacey's patented brand of smooth insincerity." (Read the full review...) 375 words, 12/15/10 Tom Meek, Boston Phoenix: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Kevin Spacey's bravura performance really sells the story.... Portraying this ugly American is the actor's best work since 'American Beauty.' " (Read the full review...) 225 words, 01/06/11 Karina Longworth, LA Weekly: WEAK "...an overslick, telepic-esque telling of the long fall of Jack Abramoff.... It's fast-paced and stylish, but the performances are flat caricatures, and the script is laughably on-the-nose." (Read the full review...) 134 words, 11/04/10 Scott Tobias, AV Club: WEAK (cg) "[Director George] Hickenlooper and [screenwriter Norman] Snider are wise to stage Abramoff's story as political satire, but 'Casino Jack' gets so bogged down trying to explain everything that the jokes, when they come, have no snap." (Read the full review...) 363 words, 12/16/10 Andrew Schenker, Slant: MODERATE (cg) "...there's little reason to prefer this film to Gibney's more informative -- and dramatically superior -- documentary treatment of almost exactly the same material." (Read the full review...) 1,219 words, 12/12/10 Radheyan Simonpillai, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Once you get past the clichés, the unfortunate screenplay with its dependence on expository dialogue and even some of the lesser performances, [it] is a lot of fun." (Read the full review...) 227 words, 01/27/11
A.O. Scott, New York Times: FAIR "...interesting, wildly uneven... it quickly becomes more frustrating than illuminating. A steadier narrative hand and a clearer satirical eye might have made the intrigue more intriguing and the humor more pointed." (Read the full review...) 816 words, 12/17/10 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: WEAK "Though the film is peppered with one-liners tailor-made for Spacey to sling with stinging effect, it doesn't so much leave you laughing as just weary, and wishing this weren't a true story at all." (Read the full review...) 666 words, 12/17/10
Robert Koehler, Daily Variety: WEAK "...an ungainly lead perf by Kevin Spacey... George Hickenlooper's direction lacks the bravura necessary to bring the most emblematic episode of recent Washington corruption fully to life.... a leaden, expository affair." (Read the full review...) 836 words, 09/15/10 Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter: VERY GOOD "[A] slick and undeniably entertaining true-life D.C. crime story, boasting a robust Kevin Spacey performance [and] bright supporting turns from Barry Pepper, Kelly Preston and an amusingly gaudy Jon Lovitz..." (Read the full review...) 506 words, 09/13/10 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: WEAK "Though the film is peppered with one-liners tailor-made for Spacey to sling with stinging effect, it doesn't so much leave you laughing as just weary, and wishing this weren't a true story at all." (Read the full review...) 666 words, 12/17/10 Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: MODERATE (cg) "...doesn't succeed as an intriguing biopic of a man who's now in prison, or a cautionary morality tale about the vices of American capitalism." (Read the full review...) 370 words, 12/17/10 A.O. Scott, New York Times: FAIR "...interesting, wildly uneven... it quickly becomes more frustrating than illuminating. A steadier narrative hand and a clearer satirical eye might have made the intrigue more intriguing and the humor more pointed." (Read the full review...) 816 words, 12/17/10
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