Change

Rating: 8/10 (22 June 2007)

I once saw a small piece of Casino, one of the later scenes in the movie between Robert DeNiro and Sharon Stone. Based on the scene, without knowing what was going on, I formed a notion that the movie was another loudmouthed violence film. I mentally, subliminally, resisted seeing it for the six or seven years since, even after taking in Goodfellas. It was seeing The Departed--twice--that convinced me to look into the picture.
Everything that can be said about its direction, camera-work, style, dialogue and overall quality has probably been said. But one thing that most reviewers have overlooked, and a nuance of the movie that I believe provides much pleasure in the watching, is how it addresses change. In this light we may interpret Scorcese's shots of coins running through the casino, like blood through veins, as sly visual clues.
On into the movie, Pesci and Stone share a line about how DeNiro's character has "changed." But one of the points Casino attempts to make is that no one really does change, no matter how hard they may or may not try, and no matter how hard someone tries to make them. After all of his friend's warnings and urgings, Pesci remains the hardheaded opportunist gangster; despite his old friend's growing disgust, DeNiro continues to try to make money within Vegas's politicized atmosphere; and Stone goes steadily along a destructive path to as much money and material goods as she can lay her hands on.
One of the genius things about the film, if so instinctive and everyday for us viewers as to be almost subliminal, is that the story is situational. Situations change, relationships between characters may change, but the characters themselves rarely do. The ways they react to these changes around them may or may not be expected, but they are the ways real people would react. Pesci and DeNiro were always a thug and a penny-pincher, respectively, but they grew up as friends; their surroundings never created a conflict between them before they went to Vegas. Similarly, Stone always coveted the material, but her new relationship with DeNiro begins to strain her sense of independence.
This is a movie that functions in layers of action and psychology: violence as a means to an end, the effects of power and greed, the straining of relationships, how we adapt to new situations, etc. All played out by a cast of very capable actors by the hand of a very able director.