***** out of 5

Rating: 10/10 (16 July 2002)

This movie gains five stars because it is nothing less than perfection. Robert De Niro is at his personal best as he give a white hot performance that could melt the varnish right off you kitchen table. Never has a man delivered his lines with such power and personal angst as this man, he is truley one of the most gifted actors on the planet. But it is not De Niro himself he is also giving an amazing script by Nicholas Pileggi, the same man who brough us Goodfellas and one of Americans greatest directors of all time Martin Scorsese. Joe Pesci is also fantastic as a violent mobster who is like a walking time bomb. Sharen Stone and James Woods are also in top form as well. It is the three hour plus story of the owner of one of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. We go through his ups and downs of life and his business. This is by far one of the grestest movies ever made and I am shocked at how even though it is over three hours long it never becomes boring and in fact even blinking might make you miss to much of this amazing gritty and very powerful drama. I have also found that out of all the actors De Niro is one of the only people who actually make swearing sound cool and you better believe there is a never ending stream of it here. If you like Goodfellas this movie is not to be missed since it follows the same basic formal just on a much larger scale. Not to be missed at any cost