A Scorsese Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (4 July 2015)

Martin Scorsese has a penchant for making great movies and he literally owns the gangster genre. Casino shows the life of the mobsters who run the casino and the elaborate measures that they take in order to avoid being arrested.
Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci star in this movie and both of them leave a mark by playing nuanced characters with great finesse. However, Sharon Stone, who plays Ginger, the wife of De Niro's character, is the one who steals the show with a crazy, tumultuous performance of a greedy woman who has gotten mixed up in drugs, alcohol, etc. and has lost control over herself. She has irresistible charm but her egoistic tendencies manage to get the better of her.
The direction by Scorsese is highly energetic with constant camera movements, beautiful cinematography and a voice over that suits the movie. The first half, in particular, is highly entertaining as the audience is shown how a casino works.
The movie is a tad bit too long clocking at almost 3 hours. As a result, it loses a bit of steam towards the end. If you cannot stomach violence, then this is not the movie for you. But, if you liked Goodfellas, you are going to love Casino.