Review: "Casino" ***1/2
ChadPolenz
Casino
***1/2 (out of 4 = very good)
1995, R, 179 minutes [2 hours, 59 minutes]
[crime/drama]
starring: Robert De Niro (Sammy "Ace" Rothstein), Joe Pesci (Nicky Santonio),
Sharon Stone (Ginger), James Woods (Lester), produced by Barbara DeFina,
written by Martin Scorsese, Nicholas Pieggi (based on his novel), directed by
Martin Scorsese.
Las Vegas is all about greed, everyone knows that. It was founded by gangsters
in the 1930s and continued to be run by organized crime for about 40 years.
"Casino" is a good crime film that pulls no punches in its depiction of Las
Vegas as seen through the mafia. We get a lot of complex criminal operations
with families, honor, etc., but underneath it all lies a typical soap opera.
Even the criminal element can't get away from melodrama.
Robert De Niro stars as Sammy "Ace" Rothstein, a typical 1970s "Family Man"
who turns his attention to Las Vegas. His problem is he doesn't know who to
trust or what to do. He seems to want to run a legitimate business, but he
still must respect his elders through charitable, yet illegal, donations. He
meets a woman named Ginger (Stone), who, much like him, is a master swindler
and gambler - who says opposites attract? Eventually they marry but Ginger
never seems to truly love Sammy. She is perhaps an even better con artist than
he and manages to swindle $2 million in cash and thousands of dollars in
jewelry from him because he trusts her.
One of the passive themes of the film is love and trust, especially when it
comes to organized crime. Which is more important, loyalty to the mob or one's
lover? However, this is only implied as such, there is not enough detail put
into the relationship between Sammy and Ginger. At first they are in love, but
then their lives fall apart because Ginger still is a loose cannon and is
swindling her husband's money. She becomes an alcoholic and a drug addict,
letting her own life be ruined even though she has everything she needs.
Of course there's Joe Pesci as the stubborn and vicious crime boss Nicky
Santonio, who moves to Las Vegas and tries to take over a city that is not
his. Meanwhile Sammy is trying to run a reputable casino, but has constant
clashes with Nicky are affecting his personal and professional life.
It certainly is interesting to watch how the mafia ran Las Vegas and the
attitude they had, but at times it becomes too confusing and too detailed for
its own good. Then again, the details make the story very suspenseful, and
almost scary in a way.
"Casino" works well as a crime film and a straight drama, although it does
become somewhat melodramatic at times. Even a great director like Scorsese
probably wouldn't intentionally include standard, dramatic elements just to
tell a story. I've got no problem with drama, it's melodrama that bothers me.
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RalphBener
Martin Scorsese's "Casino" is a good time waster when you're stuck inside on
cold winter nights. It won't heat you up but it will hold your interest, if
only because it's been like forever since Sharon Stone has made a movie in
which she's giving acting a go. With a few fine scenes as a boozing cokehead
-- the most effective in a restaurant, where she has to suffer a grilling over
$25,000 -- she's quite appealing in her 70s and 80s Vegas getups and coifs, a
much prettier Jerry Hall. You can see why Robert De Niro becomes obsessed, has
her followed, demanding that she wear a beeper so he can keep track of her.
She can't be trusted because she's emotionally attached to others --
especially sleazy pimp James Woods -- but she'd made no bones about it: when
she reluctantly marries De Niro, she admits up front she doesn't love him.
It's the mark of the man De Niro plays that he thinks he can change her when
there ain't no way. It's amusing to watch De Niro become an exasperated
cuckold, and it's equally pleasing and a relief to watch him attempt to keep
his cool when things go wrong-in that inevitable Scorsese way. Maybe he's
helped by his shiny cold ensembles: his beige, sky blue, yellow, maroon red,
sherbet green and pink-lavender shirts are matched by the same color ties and
they prevent him from breaking out in a sweat, even at his wit's end, like
when Stone goes totally bonkers. Joe Pesci's "dedication" to his enforcer job
has its moments, though they are no where near the bloody feasts one feared
they might have been.
"Casino" is a "GoodFellas" combo of "Ocean's Eleven" and "Bugsy," but more
informational, almost agreeably capsulated. (It's based on fact.) The use of
twin narrators keeps all the layers of legal and illegal authority from
bogging us down; the hits-loaded soundtrack evocative and lively; and the feel
of older Vegas permeates via Dante Ferretti's leopard-skin lounges and his
pseudo Romano-decorated homes and the neat Elaine & Saul Bass opening neon
credits, over which we hear Georges Delerue's slightly ominous "Contempt --
Theme de Camille." With De Niro, Stone and Pesci forming a polyester menage a
trois, bonded by the junk of slime, "Casino" is really "BedFellas." That's
what makes it substandard -- Scorsese's manufacturing the synthetic, not the
genuine. There's no way to ever believe Sharon Stone would give Pesci a blowjob.
Jaedeshi
Curious...have anyone read the book? Like many movies, it doesn't stay true
blue to the book...but unlike many movies that have been adapted from books, I
thought that both were great. Now, can anyone tell me how good the book (if
there is one) 'Goodfellas' is?
J