There's a lot of holes in the desert...

Rating: 10/10 (17 June 2004)

Simply one of the best gangster films out there with an excellent "true" story yet strangely underrated. Casino is a masterpiece of a mob film from Martin Scorsese, and in my opinion better than the well received Goodfellas...and I don't know if I could tell you why, that's just the way I feel. There are many obvious similarities since they're both created by Scorsese, both have DeNiro and Pesci, and in both the s*** hits the fan in the end. They are frequently compared in reviews so I'll say, for the record, that I enjoy Casino much more. I think most of the reason Goodfellas is rated higher is because it came out first and some people see Casino as a rehash. I do not care about that myself, they're both great films.
I've seen this film over a dozen times and it still has yet to get old. It's filmed beautifully and the music seems to fit the time periods and helps to establish the overall environment of it all, as it should. DeNiro and Pesci were conceived by God himself to play their parts in films like these and are always a joy to watch. Sharon Stone as Ginger is a definite standout. I honestly didn't know she could act until she was in this movie. She portrays the drug addicted ex-call girl turned wife of Sam Rothstein, the mob friendly casino boss. The film is quite violent and some denounce it for being gratuitous as if the mob goes by the same standard. It's just a movie and if you enjoy watching films in the same genre, then it shouldn't be too much to handle. The language is also fairly harsh, mostly from Nicky (Pesci), but it helps give it a gangster feel. Plus, it doesn't help that there's so much voice over in the film, which is were a lot of the profanity comes from. That's just how mob guys talk, come on now. Didn't you know? All of the wise guys that I know do the same. Even though many consider voice overs a cop-out in filmmaking, I honestly can't imagine the movie any other way. It definitely works and at least it's not Ray Liotta's voice.
As previously mentioned, the cinematography is beautiful, all that panning and sweeping...love it, and it works. I particularly enjoy the opening sequence in which the operations of the casino are explained.......also the intro to the meeting in the desert where the camera focuses on Sam's sunglasses as Nicky drives madly across in the reflection, stirring up a storm of sand. Simple, but great.
Even more interesting are the true parts of the story. I did some research and the film does mix and match some things around, but for the most part it is true. In actuality, the true story was much crazier and it involved the skimming of four casinos, not just one, one of which was the Stardust....all were ran by the real Sam Rothstein, Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal. And yes, the character that is supposed to be Nicky (Tony "The Ant") really did do what he did in the movie with a vise. The fact that it's based on a true story does make it a little more enjoyable to me, especially since it's pretty damn close.
What it all boils down to is one of my favorite films that I've seen, and one of the best mob movies ever...just like Goodfellas. I think most just don't give it a fair chance. Had Casino been released first, I think it very well could replace GF in the Top 250. Some will hate me for saying this, but when it comes to this category of films, Casino is only second to the Godfather films. Now watch my body turn up in a cornfield.