CASINO (1995)
Updated: Dec 12, 2022
Martin Scorsese Explores the Dark Side of Vegas
Grade: B+
Martin Scorsese’s Casino opens with one of the main characters (I’m not saying which one) seemingly being blown to smithereens in a car. As the credits start to roll, the flying body of the character is superimposed over flames and explosions. These images in turn are juxtaposed over closeups of flashing lights of 1970s Las Vegas, all set against mournful choir music. The credits encapsulate the nature of duality permeating the film. The first half is an in-depth look at the inner workings of a mob-run casino, complete with all the glitz and glamor associated with the city. The second half is a nightmare of betrayal, marital drama, and destruction. Even the city itself has duality: an overhead shot early on shows Vegas as a patch of lights in a valley of darkness. Although the movie ultimately suffers from its runtime and familiar story, it remains an extremely well-made and powerful story from an accomplished director.
Taking place from 1973 to 1983, Casino follows mob employee and natural born gambler Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro) who is put in charge of the Tangiers casino in Vegas by his bosses in Kansas City to help in their skimming operation. His friend and fellow mobster, Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), arrives shortly after to keep an eye on him, and ultimately becomes the No. 1 thug in town. Ace marries a hooker named Ginger (Sharon Stone) and starts living the American Dream, but his handling of the casino, as well as Nicky’s antics on the street, attract the ire of the local authorities. Eventually, Sam loses the casino and becomes embroiled in a terrible domestic battle with Ginger, all while the F.B.I. begin tightening their grip on the mob’s dealings in Vegas.
As is typical in a Martin Scorsese picture, everyone involved, both in front of the camera and behind, bring their A-game. The film is a masterpiece of cinematography and editing, the latter of which is courtesy of Scorsese’s longtime collaborator, Thelma Schoonmaker. She uses some interesting techniques, including dissolve cuts (sometimes to the same angle in the same scene) and an iris focusing on a character that others have their eyes on. Casino also boasts some impressive and gorgeous images including a man standing proudly in the casino lighting a cigarette, a car driving in the desert reflected in sunglasses, and a couple seated at a table in front of a window overlooking the lights of Vegas.
All three main cast members are outstanding, but Stone especially gives her all as Ginger in an off-the-wall performance. When Sam first meets her, he is so caught up in the glamorous side of Vegas that he thinks he can buy her love and trust by showering her in material possessions. Her sanity deteriorates throughout the film because of a drug addiction and her eventual hatred for her husband, ultimately rendering her a shrill, rage-driven woman who will make people think twice before approaching her. Her downfall, as well as the violent and gruesome deaths of several characters at the movie’s climax, make for intentionally uncomfortable viewing.
As such, the biggest problems with Casino stem not from its execution, but from the fact that the director had covered very similar ground not long before. Specifically, it can be easy to dismiss Casino as a retread of Scorsese’s earlier classic Goodfellas (1990). In addition to having the same director and two of the same main players (De Niro and Pesci), it also has the same screenwriter duo (Scorsese and Nicolas Pileggi) and is presented in a similar documentary-like format. Scenes move rapidly through the illicit activities of the mob while two characters deliver voice-over narrations and pop music drones on the soundtrack (in fact, I’m fairly sure I heard one song in both movies). Nicky also invites parallels to Pesci’s character Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas; both are extremely violent live-wire criminals who either inflict bodily harm or threaten to do so, often with little provocation. These elements can potentially distract a viewer who has seen Goodfellas, and detract from the film’s originality.
The movie’s length is both a blessing and a curse. At three hours, it develops its characters and world splendidly, but it also lingers on a few story elements longer than necessary: specifically, Ginger’s feud with Ace. The story focuses on it for so long that eventually even Stone’s performance overstays its welcome to the point that it becomes borderline comical.
Where Casino ranks among Martin Scorsese’s filmography is ultimately up to the viewer. Because he has made so many great movies, some of which share similar themes and characters, including Raging Bull (1980) and Goodfellas, Casino kind of gets buried under a mountain of quality. But it is still a great example of filmmaking, and it sports a final image that will have viewers thinking after they’ve stopped shaking in terror from the carnage they have seen.
Director: Martin Scorsese
Producer: Barbara De Fina
Screenplay: Nicolas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese (based on the novel Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas by Nicolas Pileggi)
Cast: Robert De Niro (Sam "Ace" Rothstein), Sharon Stone (Ginger McKenna), Joe Pesci (Nicky Santoro), James Woods (Lester Diamond), Don Rickles (Billy Sherbert), Alan King (Andy Stone), Kevin Pollack (Phillip Green), L.Q. Jones (Pat Webb), Frank Vincent (Frank Morino)
Rated: R (for strong brutal violence, pervasive strong language, drug use and some sexuality)
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