Goodfellas rehash

Rating: 3/10 (18 March 2008)

Enough rehash already! Although not a remake in the traditional sense, "Casino" is a virtual re-presentation of Martin Scorcese's '91 smash "Goodfellas". Now that was a great gangster film. Graphically violent, self absorbed, bitingly funny, brooding and epically proportioned, it was a knockout. Not so "Casino".
This is a real exercise in excess, and one that completely backfires on Scorcese and his team. The film is terribly overlong at three hours, and many will struggle to pay attention the entire time, especially given the narrative which has leads De Niro, Pesci and others talking us through the whole show, another big miscalculation.
The movie is far too violent, being often hard to stomach rather than effectively portraying the characters and their personalities and motivations. It's just one long, drawn out gangster show set in Las Vegas that is spotted with bursts of gruesome violence. In short, Scorcese and co-writer Pileggi have used exactly the same formula that they employed in adapting the latter's first book "Wise Guys" ("Goodfellas") to the screen, which made that film a sensation, and this one a mindless bore.
Performances are strong, especially Sharon Stone as the hopeless drug fiend Ginger whose love of money proves her undoing. She is well deserving of the Oscar nomination that has come her way. De Niro and Joe Pesci, though impressive, are really only reprising their original "Goodfellas" turns. De Niro's Jimmy 'the Gent' Conway is very similar to his Sam Rothstein, the Jewish gambling icon who ran "The Tangiers" for the mob. And Pesci's Nicky Santoro, the ultra-violent, crazy mob guy assigned to look after Rothstein, is a dead ringer for Tommy De Vito, his violent, paranoid persona from "Goodfellas". Other support players make the most of their limited roles.
Definitely under edited, tale could have been told in less than two hours, but Scorcese had to over indulge didn't he. Robert Richardson's camera work is impressive, though even he seems to be trying too hard. Perhaps that's just the whole feel of the movie. An over-rated, over the top, over inflated waste. Art and sets are incredibly lavish, while the costumes are wild but spot on. PS I bet Pileggi's book is great reading.
Sunday, March 24, 1996 - Knox District Centre