Casino (1995)

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Writers (WGA):

Nicholas Pileggi (book)
Nicholas Pileggi (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 November 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

You don't stay at the top forever

Plot:

Greed, deception, money, power, and murder occur between two mobster best friends and a trophy wife over a gambling empire.

Plot Keywords:

Casino | Las Vegas | Mafia | Murder | Gambling

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	Sam 'Ace' Rothstein
Sharon Stone	...	Ginger McKenna
Joe Pesci	...	Nicky Santoro
James Woods	...	Lester Diamond
Frank Vincent	...	Frank Marino
Pasquale Cajano	...	Remo Gaggi
Kevin Pollak	...	Phillip Green
Don Rickles	...	Billy Sherbert
Vinny Vella	...	Artie Piscano
Alan King	...	Andy Stone
L.Q. Jones	...	Pat Webb
Dick Smothers	...	Senator
Joseph Rigano	...	Vincent Borelli
John Bloom	...	Don Ward
Melissa Prophet	...	Jennifer Santoro

Also Known As:

Casino (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong brutal violence, pervasive strong language, drug use and some sexuality.

Runtime:

178 min

Country:

USA | France

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Brazil:18 | Australia:R | Italy:VM14 | Philippines:R-18 | Israel:18 | India:A | Poland:15 | Argentina:18 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Chile:18 | Denmark:16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 (w) | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #34125) | Finland:K-18 | Finland:K-16 (cut) | Singapore:R(A) | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Baker, Mojave Desert, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Oscar Goodman, who plays Sam Rothstein's attorney, is in real life a lawyer who defended several reputed mobsters with Las Vegas connections. In June of 1999, he was elected Mayor of Las Vegas.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ginger is accused of stealing, the strap on her bag snaps. In the next shot it's fixed.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ace Rothstein: [voice-over] When you love someone, you've gotta trust them. There's no other way. You've got to give them the key to everything that's yours. Otherwise, what's the point? And for a while, I believed, that's the kind of love I had.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Sopranos: College (#1.5)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

I Ain't Superstitious

Typically fantastic Scorcese film

I have to admit my bias, because I believe that Scorcese cannot do wrong - ever. Even his lesser-known or critically panned films are above the "great film" line, and Casino is certainly no exception.

Casino spans three decades and chronicles the true story of a faction of the mob who ran Las Vegas casinos. Robert DeNiro plays Ace Rothstein, a fantastic bookie who is chosen to run the Tangiers hotel and casino. Along the way, he marries a drug-addicted con-artist trophy wife (Sharon Stone) and struggles with his friendship with loose-cannon Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci). Rothstein is a complicated figure in that he is not a heavy, yet he wields a lot of power due to the respect he has gained from his mob bosses back home.

Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci are both fantastic in their roles, and Sharon Stone actually turned out a non-irritating performance. As the viewer, you can't stand her, but that is the point. Scorcese's normal supporting cast are also involved in this film, including his great mother - even though she usually has incredibly minimal roles, they are always memorable.

Scorcese seems to have several different directing styles, and Casino follows in the tradition of Goodfellas as a pseudo-documentary. A lot of the exposition is revealed by the characters themselves in the form of voice-overs, and several scenes are filmed in documentarian fashion. The entire production however, is sleek and very quick. The use of music bears mentioning as well: Most Martin Scorcese films have an amazing soundtrack that adds to and enhances the scene. Being a child of the MTV age, I'm a sucker for good uses of music in films and Scorcese is a master. Scorcese doesn't just utilize the soundtrack, he makes it part of the storytelling - by the music, we chronologically know what time period we are witnessing, since one cannot rely on other factors, such as fashion alone. One of my favorite scenes in film which effectively involves music is actually from Casino - the very intense scene when the relationship between DeNiro, Stone and Pesci come to a head in the climax of the film. The pounding music cut throughout this scene is a cover of "Satisfaction" by Devo and the result is absolutely brilliant.

Being a complete film geek, I generally don't go to films that feature certain stars, I go to films by certain directors and Scorcese is one of them. While this was probably the tenth time I'd seen this film there were more things I noticed, and I'm sure I'll notice more upon my eleventh viewing. The man is a complete genius, and a gift to film - my suggestion is to watch some of his films, then check out his unbelievable series, "A Personal Journey with Martin Scorcese Through American Movies" which was done the same year as Casino. The series is essentially a primer on the history of film, sectioned off by film genres. You not only will experience his amazing intellect and massive knowledge of film history, but his incredible humility as well.

--Shelly