Career-best for all involved. The three hours will just fly by

Rating: 10/10 (6 January 2009)

Scorsese's follow-up to Goodfellas is a monstrously entertaining drama about a mafia run casino in Vegas. Robert De Niro plays the chain-smoking control freak Sam Rothstein, who is put in charge of the Tangiers casino by his mob buddies, most notably Nicky Santoro. Santoro is played by the one and only Joe Pesci, who may very well have topped his performance in Goodfellas. Nicky is a killer, thief, gambler, and muscle-man, who wants the world and is willing to go over the heads of his bosses to get it. Sharon Stone completes the trifecta of immorality as Ginger, a hustler who Sam convinces to marry him even though he knows she doesn't love him. Though the movie is largely the story of the mob embezzlement of Vegas, and the inner-workings, dynamics and politics of running a casino, the relationship between the three main characters is key to the plot.
The plot is told unconventionally, and as the story takes place over the span of ten years, many of its scenes feel like anecdotes. But each one adds something great to the whole story. Everything builds to something, there's not one wasted second in the entire 3 hours. It seems to go by very quickly because it is so entertaining. The three leads are absolutely flawless and the drama that unfolds is truly engrossing. All three change as the movie progresses. Ginger starts off as a happy, free-spirited woman, but when she marries Sam she starts a descent into darkness. Sam's controlling tendencies are largely to blame for her slide into drug abuse, greed and compulsive lying. She resents him controlling her, he doesn't trust her enough to give her any space. She spirals further by running away with their kid and Lester, then later tying the kid to the bed when she went out to drink. Sam is the kind of person who tries to do the right thing in all situations, but with Ginger he sometimes overreacts and escalates problems further. Their deteriorating relationship threatens to sink the whole casino scam.
Meanwhile Sam's over-protectiveness of his own casino lands him in hot water with the gaming commission, and Nicky's own actions make him a target for the FBI. Both are unable to let go of the monster that they created, Nicky refusing to leave town to let the heat on him cool down, and Sam unable to step out of the limelight of running the casino. The relationship between Nicky and Ginger is interesting because for once we see a human side of Nicky. She ends up sleeping with him, complicating things further. When the house of cards quite literally comes down, the bullets fly in classic Scorsese style. Only Sam is left unscathed, somehow coming full circle, hopefully a much wiser man.
Scorsese directs this movie at full-speed, tearing open the rotten underside of Vegas in the 1970s for all to see. From taking us into the inner workings of casinos, to mob shakedowns, husband and wife quarrels, political manoeuvring, and tying it all together, you're always involved. This is a must-see film and one of the best of the 90's.