The second most absorbing 3-hour film ever made

Rating: Null/10 (31 October 2000)

(The first of which being "The Godfather", of course) Martin Scorsese's "Casino" is a film that you can watch in all of its grand length and not feel as though you are watching a marathon. Just about the only thing there to remind you that this is a 3-hour film is the fact you have to get up and change video cassettes 2/3's of the way in. While the film is not as great as Scorsese's other mafia epic "Goodfellas", it is told in the same narrative style and lets you view the other side of the mob in Las Vegas. DeNiro is once again dynamic in his role as a Casino operator and Joe Pesci (one of the most underrated film actors of his generation, save for the Oscar he got for "Goodfellas") gives one of his patented high energy, ruthless and funny performances as the Mafia enforcer from New York who is sent to Vegas by the mob to keep things in line in Vegas. Sharon Stone also does a surprisingly good job in her role as a strung out gambler and former call-girl that becomes the apple in DeNiro's eye, easily the best performance of her career. But the film is not about individual performances, per-se, like "Goodfellas", the film is an exercise in brilliant story telling, style and superb filmmaking skill. The visuals, colors and images in this film are among the most mesmerizing of any Scorsese film since "Taxi Driver" and as many IMDB users have noted, the soundtrack of the film is among the best in film history and is used perfectly along the way and plays an important part in the storytelling. This is among an elite class of mob movies and an excellent film on its own rites. How Martin Scorsese has never won a "Best Director" Oscar in all these years of brilliance is Hollywood's greatest mystery. Lets hope he's due for a "Lifetime Achievement" one pretty soon. I give it a 9/10