good film

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2005)

Casino is by almost all standards a great film. Its got a great ensemble cast,Sharon Stone gives one of the best performances iv seen by her and *obviously De Niro and Pesci are great. The film follows a rise and fall structure just like Goodfellas, which is probably why people are comparing them, and it follows the story of Ace Rothstein(De Niro) running a casino in Las Vegas which is under control by the mob. Aces operations in Nevada are put into jeopardy by the behaviour of his wife (stone) and Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) and many elements contribute to a kind of decline for Ace.
The film isn't one of Scorseses best - but that means almost nothing in the general scheme of things- as its still great and infinitely watchable. The previous reviewer said the soundtrack was kind of like a mix tape but id disagree. The soundtrack coincides perfectly with the great moments in the film and reinforces them as well. I can see his point though,there are so many great tracks in there that it kind of seems like Scorsesee just picked the great ones but then again they tend to fit whats going on on screen, such as I ain't superstitious playing over a scan of the casino, and Gimme Shelter by the stones playing to the montage of murders ( like Goodfellas) and for music fans its almost worth watching just for the music.
One of the great things about films is its look, its really appealing to watch because of it and is pretty fascinating as well if your into that kind of thing. ( I dunno if I bought a dodgy version or something but i found there were bright lights around the characters which were hard not to notice- everyone else see that?)The storyline and themes are also interesting (unless your really fed up with gangster films. The direction is superb as usual and its a pretty flashy film as well,definitely more goodfellas than Raging Bull. There's lots of swish-pans and stuff and its fun to watch.
The thing this film probably lacks more than anything is emotional engagement and if you are after that this isn't the perfect film for you because Scorsese doesn't really nail that emotion engagement (whether he was trying to or not i don't know) but if you just want a couple of hours entertainment then this films is strongly recommended. Iv seen the movie three times and it was great every time. If your new to Scorsese films then I would recommend buying other films before this i.e Raging Bull,Goodfellas,Taxi Driver because they are probably a bit better but what can i say ,I ain't seen a bad film by the guy (Cape fear was ace).
Basically this is a great films, just don't expect Goodfellas 2 , it isn't quite that good. Most of the elements of the film are good - music,acting,cinematography and it adds up to an enjoyable film. Buy i.