I Know I Am In The Minority When I Say This Was Much Better Than Goodfellas.

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2015)

I saw Goodfellas first and more times than Casino. Yet, I totally love Casino as it is one of the best movies I have literally ever seen. I find Goodfellas to be overrated and Casino to be the movie that learned from the former's flaws.
Something I really do think (more than my own opinion) is that if this was released before Goodfellas, this would be more liked. No new ground was broken, everything was just elevated.
Robert De Niro gives his most underrated performance--as well as the second best of the year (behind Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas)-- as Sam "Ace" Rothstein. Ace is an unbeatable gambler who secures the mob's casino shenanigans while his lifelong best friend, Nicky Santoro (Pesci) keeps everybody in line. The only real difference between Nicky and Tommy from Goodfellas is Tommy has curlier hair. There's divided opinion on who is crazier/more violent. I lean towards Nicky. Ace helps the casino grow and eventually seizes full power by becoming the owner. Nicky's wild and crazy antics get him banned from every Las Vegas casino, so he decides to create his own. Meanwhile, Ace blindly falls for a beautiful prostitute named Ginger (Stone) and they get married. Her habits don't change and Ace does all he can to help her out. The love story in this is amazing. Ginger is unlikeable but we can't turn away from her. Her and Nicky both contribute to Ace's fall as well as the rise of other casinos in Vegas.
One easy thing I loved was the performance by Robert De Niro. He is very likable and my heart breaks every time he is screwed over by Ginger and Nicky. He was easily a better lead than Ray Liotta and his character was more likable and deeper than Jimmy. In fact, all three of our leads in this are much deeper developed than the leads in Goodfellas. Ray Liotta is a dummy who is not cut out to be a mobster, while we see the conviction in Ace as he tries to make everything work out. Casino is also much more flashy and nicer too look at than Goodfellas which takes place in New York. The music in this is not distracting or overpowering. The filming is a step up. the flow is much better. And the story is superior. This has more of a linear and stable story than Goodfellas, which is just a man's escapades in the mafia. Everybody that watches Casino is impacted more than Goodfellas. To watch Casino, you have to be in a mood and well prepared. A movie has really done its job if it does that to a viewer, and actually has a purpose for its content.
4/4