Another Triumph of Martin Scorsese

Rating: 10/10 (9 August 2009)

I have always been fascinated by the Mafia underworld and I have admired Martin Scorsese's work since a young age. Scorsese has brought us several good gangland films, like Goodfellas in 1990 and The Departed in 2006. In between the two, he brought us Casino in 1995.
Casino tells the story of Frank Rosenthal (Portayed by Robert De Niro under the name "Sam Rothstein") and Anthony Spilotro (Portrayed by Joe Pesci under the name of "Nicky Santoro). The film's subject is the 1970s casino skimming the mid-western Mafia families built an empire on. The movie is basically about two hoods from Chicago who get to the top of the world, only to be dragged back to the ground.
The film is a first person narrative, much like Goodfellas. It is told from Nicky Santoro and Sam Rothstein's perspectives. One of the many attracting factors is that the film is Nicholas Pileggi, who wrote the novel of Casino and the novel of Goodfellas as well as being involved with both screenplays and Martin Scorsese, who directed, also wrote. The result of these two geniuses in their fields working together was a great script.
The performances were also great. I believe Sharon Stone was nominating for an Oscar for her portrayal of Ginger McKenna (based on Geri McGee-Rosenthal), Sam's greedy wife. Joe Pesci, playing a similar role to what he did in Goodfellas, comes back with a vengeance as a brutal Mafia hit-man. And of course, Robert De Niro is great lead (as always), as the smart and cool Sam "Ace" Rothstein. The film also has a great supporting cast, including Don Rickles and Frank Vincent.
All in all, Casino is a great movie. The movie is not as good as Goodfellas, but almost reaches the point to being just as good. I enjoyed both of them.
10/10