New-View: Casino Jack and the United States of Money

Well, this is my first posting and it's going to be concerning the film I just watched today: "Casino Jack and the United States of Money".

It's one of those movies that appealed to me when I first saw the trailer.  Considering the immense problems that the world has had with the financial sector and the way that governments have almost been complicit in the way that they had deregulated everything, the film showed a lot of potential.  I felt that perhaps it may have been as enlightening as Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room or other documentaries of that ilk.

Your money hard at work.

Unfortunately, I wasn't too impressed; I believe that the real reason for this is not that the film is that bad (though it is a bit dull in places and drags far longer than the two hours that it's on for), it's more because I'm not a U.S. citizen and have never really understood the Republican/Democrat divide.  That may be in part due to my living in a country where the boundaries between Far right/left politics blurred when I was still a child.  Furthermore, while the "character" of Jack Abramoff definitely seemed documentary material, I think that his notoriety is probably far more pronounced in the States than here in the U.K.

To those who have an intense interest in American politics and follow the minor players as well as the major, this film may be of some interest; however, if you, like me, have a basic understanding of the system, this film is best avoided.

Tonight I will be watching "Machete" with Danny Trejo.  Yes, not necessarily intellectual fare, but check back tomorrow for a review on it.