CASINO
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1995 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: Martin Scorsese's story of the rise
and fall of a casino manager is a detailed but
informative and even enthralling three hours.
CASINO chronicles how organized crime lost Las
Vegas, as seen through the eyes of two close
friends appointed by the mob to run the operation.
In spite of strong graphic violence this could get
the Best Picture Oscar. Rating: low +3 (-4 to +4)
Following the structure of a classical tragedy, CASINO chronicles in fascinating detail the rise and fall of Sam "Ace" Rothstein, the mob-assigned manager of a prestigious Las Vegas casino. Martin Scorsese co-wrote the screenplay with Nicholas Pileggi, basing it on Pileggi's novel. The two previously co-wrote GOODFELLAS, based on another Pileggi novel. (Pileggi also co-wrote the screenplay for the upcoming CITY HALL.)
CASINO has an epic length, just short of three hours, and while the central plot advances slowly the film is filled with the engrossing details of what is involved with the running of a major casino as well as telling a complex yet never confusing story.
Ace (played by Robert De Niro) is a consummate gambler who does his homework for bets in painstaking detail. His skill has earned enough for the Kansas City Mob that they reward him, a non-Italian Jew, by letting him manage the Tangiers Casino. This is a position in which he can get very powerful while becoming very rich. In the job he really comes into his own as a perfectionist who oversees all the details, some unsavory, of running the high-profit show. Ace reluctantly allows his friend since childhood Nick Santoro (Joe Pesci) to come to Las Vegas and to get involved with the Tangiers. Ace also falls for a beautiful hustler, Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone). Neither turns out to be a good decision. Nick is a loose cannon thug with a volatile temper. He will do whatever it takes to get money and power. Even as Ace's power and prestige increase, the seeds of his downfall are being sown by idealistic but questionable decisions. Ace's marriage and over-generosity to Ginger, his trust of the uncontrollable Nick, and his unwillingness to rehire the incompetent brother-in-law of a local official all lead to major trouble. As he and Nick narrate, each self-righteously defends his own actions.
Robert De Niro is fine as Ace, though the character is well within the range of characters he has played before. Pesci's violent thug is very much the same character he played in GOODFELLAS, though perhaps with a shorter fuse here and with more of a penchant for cruelty. The actor who really shows us something new is Sharon Stone, whose descent into alcohol, cocaine, and rage is her most effective screen role to date. As an apparent joke, the deeper addicted Stone gets, the more she is made up to look like Michelle Pfeiffer. James Woods is around playing his usual slimeball character. Don Rickles is surprisingly effective in one of his rare serious roles.
Scorsese's style with this film is fresh and new, though not all of his touches really work perfectly. The film starts near the story's end with Ace in a car bombing and blown through a strange credit sequence with impressions of the lights of Las Vegas. The sequence is strange and the floating through of De Niro in what looks like a car ejection seat is very odd, indeed, almost reminding one of Fellini. The sequence was created by Elaine and Saul Bass. Saul Bass was one of the classic credit sequence designers of the 1960s. Scorsese does use violence more often than in previous films. And what is there is very strong stuff and is not for the sensitive. Borrowing a touch from FORREST GUMP, the film is seasoned with popular music of the 1970s, often as a commentary on the story.
The whole package is a riveting account and a well-told story. Though the script does not always play absolutely fair with the audience, the small cheats help lead to unexpected plot twists. No film I have seen this year has a better shot at a Best Picture Academy Award. I give CASINO a low +3 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mark.leeper@att.com
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