Following the success of Goodfellas and with a pair of stars reunited from Raging Bull, it seemed only natural that Martin Scorsese would take his mafia thriller to Vegas. And so he did with Casino, which captures the essence of a city built on vice and shows its residents rising to the top and falling from their heights due to lust, hubris, and greed.
Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro) is a Jewish American gambling expert who is recruited by the Chicago Outfit to oversee the day-to-day operations of its casino in Las Vegas. He is tasked with keeping the mob-controlled casino running smoothly and efficiently, while also protecting it from the FBI. He soon finds himself torn between his personal relationships and his professional life, as well as the constant pull of temptation and gambling addiction.
Scorsese has a long history of making films about flawed individuals who rise to the top before quickly falling from grace. However, unlike his masterpiece Goodfellas, which was a bit of a muddled mess in places, Casino manages to keep the narrative focused and its characters’ downfalls feel entirely justified by their poor decisions.
The film is also filled with Scorsese’s signature energy and pacing, as well as his evocative use of music to create emotion and set the mood for scenes. It’s a fast-paced, exciting ride from start to finish that’s never boring or overly sentimental. And it features some of the best performances from Sharon Stone ever put to screen.
It’s worth noting that Casino is not for the faint of heart, and features some truly hellacious violence. It has to be seen to be believed, from a torture-by-vice sequence that includes a popped eyeball to a brutal baseball bat beating that had to be trimmed down to avoid an NC-17 rating. But while the movie does have some truly shocking scenes, they’re used sparingly and with a sense of purpose; they’re not there to shock for the sake of it.
Another reason why Casino is so successful is that it’s the most human of Scorsese’s mafia movies. While Goodfellas is great for its characters’ quotable banter, it lacks the emotional connection that we see in Casino between the two veteran actors. The relationship between Nicky Santoro and Sam Rothstein feels much more real in this film, as do their conflicts. Sam’s desire to control things butts heads with Nicky’s compulsive tendencies, and their entire dynamic changes over the course of the story.
Few movies capture the spirit of a city built on vice like Casino does. It’s a brilliant film that isn’t afraid to show its audience the skeletons in Sin City’s closet, and it features an amazing performance from Sharon Stone. It’s a film that’s sure to be appreciated by generations to come.