Casino Jack

What’s the opposite of being in “the zone”? Describing someone as “out of the zone” doesn’t really make sense, and “cold streak” is insufficient in the same way that “hot streak” fails to capture the almost supernatural qualities of “the zone.” However you would describe the opposite of “the zone,” Kevin Spacey is there, right alongside M. Night Shyamalan and Kevin Smith. Like those two directors, Spacey has been so bad for so long (The Men Who Stare at Goats, 21, Shrink, Fred Claus, Superman Returns—and I’ve only reached back to summer 2006!), I’m forced to question if he was ever good, no matter my nostalgic affection for his turns in Glengarry Glen Ross, Se7en, and L.A. Confidential. This putrid and amateurish biopic of convicted lobbyist/film nut Jack Abramoff, which actually requires him to re-enact scenes from famous movies, doesn’t exactly help Spacey’s case.