Goodfellas in Las Vegas

Rating: Null/10 (12 June 2018)

Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone. Now there's a group of people with which to make a movie.
Casino takes place in Las Vegas in the 70s. Sam "Ace" Rothstein (De Niro) is sent to Vegas by the mob to run a casino for them. After a while they also send Nicky Santoro (Pesci) to keep the wheels running and to act as muscle for Rothstein. Unfortunately, these two have very different ideas on how things should be run. Ace would like nothing more than to run his casino, pay his "honest" dues to the mob and to just sit back and relax. Whereas Nicky wants to climb all the way to the top, no matter how many bodies he has to leave on his wake.
This movie is often compared to Goodfellas, Scorsese's previous masterpiece. And I can definitely see why. We have the mob, gangsters a plenty, rags to riches themes, and even two of the same actors, although Pesci is deservedly in a much bigger role this time around.
And yet Goodfellas it ain't. It's plenty good on its own merits, but it lacks that degree of identifiability a proper old time gangster film has. The 70s and Las Vegas muddle up the story, make it seem that much dirtier. Drugs flow freely, no one can be trusted and none of the main characters is at all likable. Which is most definitely the point, but it is also the reason why I prefer Goodfellas. A much better comparison mood-wise would be Scarface, although that takes an even harsher stance on the viability of the gangster lifestyle. Whereas this movie is kind of half-n-half.
Still, a good movie by any measure. Well worth a watch for all fans of the gangster genre.