All Talk, and a Few Bombs and Blows

Rating: 5/10 (13 March 2011)

Ah, I was so looking forward to this one. It had all of the stars: De Niro, Pesci, Sharon Stone. Heck, it even had Don Rickles and Dick Smothers in dramatic roles (!) Not to mention Alan King (remember him?).
So, it was with anticipation that I got this one, and started to watch. It started out with a healthy dose of narration, reminding me of Goodfellas. But this time it was DeNiro doing most of the talking.
But then he didn't stop.
This is a three-hour movie, and about an hour of it, if not more (I didn't count the minutes) is Abe Rothstein (DeNiro), or sometimes Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), narrating the background. I mean, Ray Liotta did a good job in Goodfellas, but this is overboard, guys. Enough gabbing, and let's see the characters do what they do best, and let the story fold out through the scenes.
So, the story is about two gangsters, Abe Rothstein and Nicky Santoro, who are small-time bookies some place "back home" - in some non-descript town anywhere between Dallas and Cleveland, where gambling is definitely a no-no. The "bosses" there send Rothstein out to Vegas to manage a casino that they bankroll. Except for the source of the funds, Rothstein is now involved in a legitimate operation. And that's where the first conflict arrives: he's not used to being a law-abiding fellow. But he gets it real quick, and in no time at all, has a babe for a wife (who had warned him that she's not the marrying type), Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone).
Then his buddy Nicky comes out to Vegas, and wants to help. But Nicky is the bouncer. The violent guy, and he wants to do it his way. So, he gums things up with his beatings, and threats, and stabbings. And these things are still illegal in Nevada, folks.
So, the rest of the movie is how these conflicts pan out: Abe Rothstein trying to be legit (and it's not only his own demons, but there are some shenanigans going on in official Nevada as well), trying to be married to a former call girl of a wife (who just can't keep her finger out of the white stuff, and still has the hots for her former pimp), and Abe trying to get along with Nicky, who just can't keep his hands - and switchblades - to himself.
Sounds like a cool gangster movie, and the potential is there, folks. In fact, I think not only the potential is there, but the scenes are there, too. The acting is fine (although DeNiro has done better jobs elsewhere), but the killer here is the editing. There were just too many scenes that could have been cut out, and the movie pared down to 2 hours or so. It just went on and on and on.
So, if you want to see these guys on the screen, by all means watch this movie. But beware of the high price you pay in time invested.