Casino

Casino (1995)

Runtime: 179 minutes

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Starring: A very nice cast

From: Universal

Until last night, I had only seen this movie once... and that had to be at least 20 years ago. Goodfellas is one of my personal favorites and last year's The Irishman was excellent; it is natural to compare the three movies not just for the obvious Mob plot but rather them all being based on alleged true stories originally told in book form. While this is the lesser of the three, that is no slight as Casino is still very good.

Based on mobster Frank Rosenthal helping the Mob run the Stardust Casino in Las Vegas, this has Robert De Niro as Ace Rothstein running the fictional Tangiers casino; as the hothead that Joe Pesci played was based on real life Mob hothead Tony Spilotro (who really did stick someone's head in a vise and squeezed it until a gross moment occurred) there was no better choice for the role. Various other events from real life were portrayed in the movie, including the Ginger character causing trouble for both men, along with organized crime skimming off the profits from the casino.

Many directors could not have made a 3 hour movie that has constant narration from TWO characters (De Niro and Pesci) and spend the first 40 minutes or so setting up the world and even taking the time to see some of the casino scams that people try to pull; as it is Scorsese, he managed to make it work with its stylish direction, an outstanding soundtrack that has everything from The Rolling Stones (naturally) to blues to lounge music to Devo... and a quality cast full of familiar faces. Of course De Niro and Pesci were unforgettable with their oversized personalities and great 70's clothing, but Sharon Stone as Ginger was also great as a character who had her share of flaws.

It's a Scorsese Mob movie so you should know this is at times brutally violent and is always in your face, with various of the F bomb being dropped on 422 occasions* and the world is filled with scummy characters. Yet at least for me they are always compelling watches seeing the rise and downfall of these reprobates. Besides, Las Vegas has for years been a fascinating town to me due to its unique qualities; the last time I was in the city was years ago... hopefully one day there will be a grand return on my part. Anyhow, the wait should not have been so long to roll the dice and see this a second time.

* Yes, someone counted; in fact, there is a list on Wikipedia of the movies which use it at least 150 times. Personally, it may help in deciding what NOT to view; this won't be a popular opinion but that word is overused in general and more than one movie on the list I found to be aggressively in your face obnoxious (not all have been reviewed here because not all were viewed since I joined the site). Of course, some of the others are also masterpieces-my point still stands. I'd be happy in general if that word was used less often.