Harshly judged

Rating: Null/10 (30 August 2002)

Many consider this film as a sub - GoodFellas (1990) rip off, due to the style of the film and the nature of the violence and dialogue. While I agree that there are certain similarities, it must be considered independent from Martin Scorsese's 1990 masterpiece. Indeed, Casino expands on GoodFellas and improves it.
We are now forced to care about Sam 'Ace' Rothstein (Robert De Niro) and his downward spiral. In GoodFellas, we viewed the world of Henry Hill, but we were never really cared about him or his friends. Joe Pesci's performance as Nicky Santoro is, for me personally, far more disturbing than Tommy De Vito. Santoro is more vicious and is prepared to back stab Rothstein over business and his wife, Ginger (Sharon Stone, in an Oscar nominated role, and rightly so).
Even the violence is considered more graphic. I know a few people who were distressed by the intensity of the violence and had to stop watching the film. This is, surely, a success on the part of Scorsese and his cast on the fact that they are able to get such gut reactions from people who have been raised on slasher films, such as Halloween (1978).
There's also more of a story to Casino, which makes it a more engaging tale. No detail is too small for Rothstein, even down to the number of currents in a bun. It's a fascinating view about the rise and fall of the mob in Las Vegas, the playground of the world. The interesting thing about Rothstein is that he isn't actively involved in the violence, but he certainly doesn't condone it. Watch his face as the guy's hand is smashed with the hammer.
My only complaint is that James Woods is pretty weak as Lester Diamond, Ginger's former pimp. Considering his performance as a gangster in Once Upon a Time in America (1984), we know he can do much better than that. I don't know what Scorsese was thinking there.
Other than that, I give Casino a 9 out of 10.