Hickenlooper's Finale

I had the good fortune to attend the St. Louis premiere of the latest, and the last, George Hickenlooper film, "Casino Jack". George Hickenlooper died 2 weeks ago. George was one year behind me at SLUH, so we've known each other for over 30 years. It would be misleading to say we were great friends. George was very good friends with some of my very good friends. I would describe us as acquaintances, maybe acquaintances-plus. To be honest it always gave me a secret thrill when we'd cross paths over the years, and he would remember who I was. In 1999, I spent a day as an extra on "The Big Brass Ring". It was quite thrilling when I saw my face prominently displayed on the big screen. I've been bragging about it ever since. (Look for me shortly after the blow job scene.) I always liked to imagine that George had the option to use any of dozens of shots in that scene, but opted to use the shot of me just to be nice.

It was obvious way back when George was a freshman in high school that he had immense talent. There are very few people who made an impression on me as a freshman. In fact there are very few people who made an impression on me in high school period. George was special. In subsequent years every time I saw a George movie I marveled that some kid I knew in high school made the movie I was watching. I'm talking about real movies shown in theaters.

Casino Jack is a fascinating movie. When I heard George's latest project was about lobbyists, my first thought was, "Oh no, snoozefest." Ah, but I knew it was a George project so no worries. Sure enough, Jack Abramoff turns out to be a fascinating guy. I was further pleasantly surprised to find Jon Lovitz turned in a scene-stealing performance.

The buzz is that "Casino Jack" is George's best work, and that Kevin Spacey is in line to get an Oscar nomination. Both of those things may be true. However, I'm going to stick with "The Man from Elysian Fields" as my personal favorite. (You gotta love those movies about male prostitution, right?) Remember that kid I went to high school with? He directed Mick Jagger in a movie. How cool is that?

Meanwhile, back to the St. Louis premiere. Prior to the screening a highlight reel of George's career brought back some good memories, along with a reminder that I've missed a few along the way. Remembrances and tributes from family, friends and colleagues were heartfelt and humorous. The last of which was surprise guest Kevin Spacey himself, who seemed very sincere in his fondness for George. Following the movie, was a 90 minute Q&A with Spacey and co-star Spencer Garrett.



I rate "Casino Jack" at 4 Boos.

Farewell George. Thanks for the memories.