Casino is a movie about gambling and the mob. It is based on a true story about Sam “Ace” Rothstein’s relationship with the mafia and Las Vegas casinos. It stars Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, completing their collaboration that began in Raging Bull. It is one of Scorsese’s most interesting films because it tries to be a pseudo-documentary and uses a lot of fast cuts and stylized documentarian footage to present the story. The film also has great music and a very slick production overall.
The early sequences in the casino are fascinating because they resemble a behind-the-scenes look at how casinos operate. In addition, Scorsese uses a lot of narration in the beginning to tell the story. Then, as the film progresses, he starts to use less narration and more dialogue. This makes the film more like a conventional drama instead of an entertaining documentary about the mob and casinos.
As a whole, the film is well-acted by all of the cast members, but especially De Niro and Sharon Stone. Both of them give outstanding performances that are well-deserved Oscar-nominated. They have a chemistry that captivates the audience throughout the movie. Their scenes together are some of the most interesting in the entire movie.
The rest of the cast is also good. However, some of the supporting characters are not as memorable as others. For example, I didn’t find the character of Ginger McKenna as believable as I thought she should be.
