A realistic and brutal painting of the Mafia in Las Vegas

Rating: 9/10 (14 June 2005)

I liked this film a lot, it made me want to see all the rest of Scorsese's work. I had already seen Taxi Driver and Raging Bull when I saw Casino. Casino is only slightly inferior to Raging Bull, Taxi Driver being altogether the best, but Casino takes Scorsese back to his roots : the Mafia, although instead of having his native city New York as a setting, this time he chooses Las Vegas, with the casinos and (obviously) the cash. The story is roughly based on true authentic anecdotes from the 70s. It's about a master of gambling, Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Robert de Niro), hired by the Mafia to control a casino, the Tangiers. He meets and marries a respected prostitute, Ginger (Sharon Stone), and one of his old friends, Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), comes into town. The actors are excellent, Robert de Niro is just perfect as usual, Joe Pesci plays his usual small, but completely out of control, violent gangster and Sharon Stone is as beautiful as ever, getting less and less when she starts to drink and take drugs...things start well for the couple, but "no one stays at the top forever"...
A great film, with superb travelings and shoulder-held camera-work by the director. The film is violent. I saw it when I was 14 but that's just me, so if you've never seen an R-rated movie or an 18 (UK), don't start with this one.