The signs that Jack Abramoff was an exceptional jerk started to surface decades before he was sent to prison on fraud and corruption charges.

This is a man who converted to Orthodox Judaism after seeing "Fiddler on the Roof." He was also responsible for the god-awful Dolph Lundgren movie "Red Scorpion," and counted a young Ralph Reed among his closest friends. Once he became a powerful Washington lobbyist, how could his career not end with a spectacular thud?

Documentarian Alex Gibney presents the Abramoff story as both a cautionary tale and preaching-to-the-choir entertainment in "Casino Jack and the United States of America." These two goals often conflict - the snarky tone, use of musical puns and jokey graphics (was Keith Olbermann an executive producer?) undermine the impact of the story.