shut up, Bobby

Rating: 7/10 (21 May 2005)

I know I'm not alone in my fascination of Las Vegas casino "culture." I've only been there once, but I was completely awestruck by the delicious, glowing obscenity of it all (mind you I'm a jaded New Yorker, not some babe in the woods). "Casino" only adds to the fantasy. The irony is that while Vegas is seen as a separate universe where vice is as commonplace as streetlights, it's probably the only HONEST city in the world. Every other city is as full of vice and corruption, but Vegas is the only place that admits that these things are at the core of our lovely civilization. Scorsese has many tools at his disposal; here he uses his scalpel and Bedazzler above all else. The one thing that really bugged me (other than the usual Italian-American stereotypes, but what are you gonna do) is the OVER-use of voice-over. Voice-over is pretty annoying to begin with, but here it's just way too much. It almost sucks the life out of the movie (especially when coupled with Scorsese's snappy montage style). Visually it's quite breathtaking, and the performances are top-notch, especially from Sharon Stone, who emits a raw energy not common among today's leading ladies.