Review of Casino (1995) by Andrew M — 10 Apr 2016

Sorry Scorsese, you're not getting away unscathed for this one. Casino is essentially Goodfellas with a Las Vegas twist, which is quite odd coming from a director as diverse as Scorsese. Casino may have the same admirable technical qualities to be expected from someone like Scorsese, such as smooth cinematography and fitting production and costume design, but it's not even close to matching the same narrative gravitas of Goodfellas.

It's the same rise-and-fall plot featuring characters that feel too similar to those in Goodfellas: Joe Pesci's characters in this and Goodfellas are nearly indistinguishable. Casino gets a bit of a pass for being adapted from true events, but still feels all too familiar.

The film also runs far too long: many plot points in the nearly three hour runtime feel expendable and seem to drag. It's not a bad movie by any means, but it's disappointing to see someone like Scorsese ultimately make the same movie twice.