Lengthly, But Still Quintessential Scorsese.

Rating: 8/10 (6 September 2014)

"Casino", remains another superb masterpiece by Martin Scorsese. Sadly this film is not really talked about enough, or at least among my peers. Many seem to acknowledge it's brilliance and just say "Oh yeah, that's the head in a vice movie".
Like "Goodfellas" (1990) before it, the film is based on another True story. Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Robert De Niro), is called by the mob to oversee the day to day operations of the most successful Casino in Vegas. As we see, "Ace" is constantly on duty, yet successfully is running the business to it's full potential. Along the way we meet Sam's old friend Nicholas "Nicky" Santoro (Joe Pesci), an extremely volatile man who would kill you if you even made eye contact. Later he is also introduced to extensive gold-digger Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone), whom Sam falls for and eventually marries unaware she's still with her slimy con man boyfriend Lester Diamond (James Woods). Ultimately these encounters mean doom for every one of them, among the inevitable collapse of the mob's power.
"Casino", maybe just for it's length is an epic movie. Showcasing both the familiar tropes of violence and greed, which leads to the downfall of any human being. But the genius is that all these people suffer different forms of fatalities, both seen before and some surprisingly original. Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci are as great as ever in these kind of movies. It's great to see both tread familiar grounds, read exposition while the story continues and still assume different characters. James Woods was extremely subtle in his role, which works well for him as I did not recognise him in the beginning. Finally Sharon Stone's character is somewhat the emphasis of the entire movie, and she delivers that Oscar nominated performance so tight as the object of lust it's astounding. Funny enough is that I absolutely hate her in these kind of roles because she's so good at them, all in all making her the perfect choice.
Final Verdict: Though the film is long, those who can sit through it are in for another great piece from Scorsese's filmography. 8/10.