"He'll keep coming back until one of you is dead"

Rating: 7/10 (1 February 2012)

Repetition occurs in cinema at every level. If something is successful, highbrow or lowbrow, there is a good chance that those responsible will simply rerun the formula to get the same result. In 1990 iconic gangster movie and filmmaker's favourite Goodfellas was directed by Martin Scorsese from a script by Nicholas Pileggi, and starred Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. In 1995 gangster movie Casino was directed by Martin Scorsese from a script by You get the idea.
Admittedly Scorsese and Pileggi did work well together, the director illustrating the writer's every word with a well-placed pan or close-up. It's a bit dizzying and the constant musical switching gets a bit tiresome, but you still have to admire the craftsmanship that goes into a picture like this, especially in Scorsese's meticulously planned tracking shots. There's one near the beginning where we follow the skimmer into the casino, and the camera eagerly overtakes him as he heads towards the counting room, really engaging us in what's going on. Or there's the tracking shot at the wedding, where Sharon Stone's flick of her head seems to propel the camera on to the next table. It's a very artificial, obtrusive way of making a movie, but it is nevertheless carefully designed to involve us in the story's world.
This was the eighth, and to date, the final time Robert De Niro has starred in a Scorsese movie, and this is predictably familiar ground for him. Sam Rothstein is really just a slightly more relaxed version of the De Niro character in Goodfellas. De Niro can at least do menacing without using his fists, and of note is his articulation of the word "dead" when he threatens his wife. Joe Pesci's role here is nigh-on identical to the one that earned him an Oscar in Goodfellas. He's good at it though. Look at how he stabs up the man with the pen; he really gives the impression of a little guy who's had to get the kicks in quick to survive. But reliable as these two are there is very much a sense with De Niro and Pesci that they are going through the old familiar motions. The real standout in the movie is Sharon Stone. For this part she has to be angry, tearful and drugged-up, as do a lot of actresses, but to do so for such a large chunk of the movie and remain believable throughout, never slipping into over-the-top hysterics, is admirable.
Being a repetition of Goodfellas doesn't necessarily make Casino a weaker movie. It has almost all the same merits and flaws as its predecessor. It is perhaps a little more lacking in true drama and comes closer to a documentary, at times being little more than a list of anecdotes, which makes the nearly three hour runtime a little wearing. One area which, for me, made Casino stand-out was its costume design. Garish as they are, there's a mad kind of co-ordination in Rothstein's suits. There are plenty of other tawdry yet outstanding outfits throughout the movie, such as an Ace of Hearts dress worn by a bit player. Sharon Stone's leather suit in her climactic scenes is memorably striking, and as such helps to highlight the fact that she's been in the same clothes for several days. For me, it's the clothes more than anything else which evoke the misguided glamour of Casino and its denizens. Unfortunately, this isn't what people tend to consider in the gangster movie, so it seems to have gone largely unnoticed