Kevin Spacey gets in touch with his inner Jew in ‘Casino Jack’
Two-time Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey lifts his fork from his plate of lox and eggs and jabs it in the air. He’s tucked away in a back booth at Art’s Deli in Studio City, recounting his monologue from the opening scene of the black comedy “Casino Jack,” which opens Dec. 17. The film is inspired by the true story of the disgraced right-wing former super-lobbyist and Orthodox Jew Jack Abramoff, whom Spacey portrays. In that scene, Abramoff wields not a fork, but a toothbrush, as he informs a bathroom mirror that, as a result of “a s—load of reading and studying and praying,” he’s come to some conclusions he’d like to share — ostensibly with the reporters and FBI agents circling him: “You’re either a big leaguer or you’re a slave clawing your way onto the C-train,” is one of them. “You say I’m selfish — f— you,” is another. “I give back, plenty. … I’m humbly grateful for the wonderful gifts that I’ve received here in America, the greatest country on the planet! I’m Jack Abramoff, and, oh yeah, I work out every day.”