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Casino (1995) - 8/10

I watched Goodfellas yesterday. A great film, but not quite as good as I remembered. I’m wondering if time has confused it with Casino in my mind. Let’s see. I’d certainly forgotten this was 3 hours long! Like Goodfellas, it’s another true story adaptation and it also starts with a preview of something horrific happening in a car. There are a lot of similarities in fact. Another  tryptic lead cast, Sam (or Ace) (Robert De Niro) is the Casino boss in question, Ginger (Sharon Stone) his wife and Nicky (Joe Pesci) the right hand man nasty bastard muscle. They are all destined to fail. The Casino is legit, but what’s behind it is as corrupt as you’d expect for a Scorsese picture. Sam and Nicky’s narration leads us through the exposition. Introducing themselves and their world. How it all works, skimming a little money off the top of the take to line their pockets and their mafia bosses. They control the Casino, they control Vegas and Sam is their man. Sam’s meticulous… and a gambler, but most important, he reads people as well as cards. Keeping everyone including the politicians and the law on side, keeping the big machine humming. I love the way Scorsese sets this up. It’s again a heady mix of characters, connections and camera. Always on the move, scenes are tightly crafted. It’s 3 hours, but nothing ever overstays its welcome. Sam is flying high, smoking cigarettes in sharp suits. A lone wolf type, in control of the pack. Enter, Ginger. She’s the wildcard. A hustler. The hustler. She’s what makes Casino tick. She makes sense in Vegas. Sam makes sense in Vegas. They have control. Nicky, he does not make sense in Vegas. He’s a loose canon. Perfect for a gripping story that although on the surface seems complicated, is actually very simple. Sam makes a gamble marrying Ginger. He knows it. He probably knows it’s a bad call, but he makes it. He’s unaware of the power that Lester (James Woods), Gingers low life pimp like ex has over her. This is one pillar of Casino, everything revolves on this call he makes to trust his new wife. That’s only one side of it of course. Ginger finds herself now controlled, rather than controlling. That isn’t going to end well. The other pillar is Nicky, his temper and his sideline stealing after he’s blacklisted by the FBI from the casinos. It’s not really a gangster film until Nicky puts someone’s head in a vice. Sam’s once simple world slowly unravels. That’s what Scorsese does best isn’t it. Hold your hand while the world spins out of control. It’s a wild ride packed with colourful characters, but you never feel lost. Ginger drinking, Sam making enemies with the yokel locals, Nicky providing the splatter.  It wraps its way around you, immersing you it its world. Scorsese’s that is. It’s not Sam and Nicky’s world. They refer to Vegas, as “out here” and “the dessert”, it’s not home and maybe that’s the biggest problem. My one criticism if there is one, is Stone’s Ginger is almost forgotten in the second act as Sam and Nicky begin to feud. It feels like a more well rounded film with her in it. Even when she’s back in the picture, she’s reduced to a pawn by the male characters around her. Pecsi and De Niro do what they do. These are the characters they’re born to play. Pretty much the only character Pesci plays, but Stone, she’s magnificent. Her story arc is the most extreme and she’s delivers it masterfully. As great as it is, the journey is more satisfying than the destination… but there’s really no excuse for getting it mixed up with Goodfellas.


8/10


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