2010 Sundance Day 3: Alex Gibney’s Casino Jack & The United States of Money

My first ever screening at the Temple theater (or the Doc Temple as they call it), a place I avoided like the plague because it seemed far off the map…and who do I see walking out of the Tilmann Story screening which showed just prior to mine was Michael Moore. I would have liked to have seen Amir Bar-Lev’s film but I was there for Alex Gibney’s latest. I’m dubbing Casino Jack & The United States of Money as a marathon-telethon, Jack Abramoff’s track record of greed and raising money (greed is something that we also saw in the Enron doc) spans back a couple of presidents and is so extensive that Gibney takes 120 minutes to reveal the blueprint. 

I couldn’t help but think during the lengthy doc that if its money that turns capitol hill into a farce, how come there isn’t a salary structure like professional sports with assigned watch dogs keeping tabs on each member of congress like their life depended on it. This is a fairly complete portrait – the roots of evil spread from country to country and from senate seat to neighboring senate seat – and yes, even the Democrats have been found to stick their hands to long in the cookie jar. Read my full review coming soon.