Film Review — Casino (1995)

Is Scorsese’s Vegas saga a classic? You bet it is.

★★★★★

Unfairly faulted for its similarities to Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese’s second Nicholas Pileggi adaptation stands as one of the legendary director’s best efforts on its own merits.

Casino is an engrossing experience. An intoxicating montage of extravagance, playing out to a relentless jukebox soundtrack that almost certainly has Tarantino’s enthusiastic approval.

But away from the bright lights, the seedy underbelly is where the real drama lies. Colourless counting rooms, tense arguments in the desert with life-or-death consequences, and a marital home of broken dreams and promises.

Robert De Niro is typically excellent, believable as a man with ice in his veins, but just as addicted to the game as his patrons. Joe Pesci steals scenes once again, but this time his psychotic sidekick character is truly irredeemable.

Sharon Stone completes the trinity, the crucial component of Scorsese’s masterpiece, a tragic victim of the harsh reality of a place where the house always wins.