Review of Casino (1995) by Harry W — 30 Nov 2013

Casino is very similar to Martin Scorsese's previous gangster effort, Goodfellas. It largely follows the same distinct style, brings over many of the people that made Goodfellas and is a second acclaimed gangster tale.

Casino exposes the underworld of Gambling by revealing the corruption and violence in the town of Las Vegas before they became about corporations. It dramatises just how evil the source of gambling is, and just how violent people would become in the corrupt world of gambling. It educates viewers on the past and takes them on a 3 hour journey to teach people just what kind of hell lay beneath the expensive and glamourous buildings of Las Vegas.

But Casino is full of talking, and there is a lot of it. I found it to be overloaded with excessive talking over a period of 3 hours and a lot of predictable plot dynamics which never really took me by surprise. I found that to a certain extent, Casino was generic. It just seemed like it was a piece of the dying spirit of Martin Scorsese's older films, and in particular his collaborations with Robert De Niro in their final teaming up together. It just doesn't have the originality or dramatic impact that their films like Goodfellas or Taxi Driver did, and it feels like it's a story that's all been told before. Even though it does educate viewers on the history of casino crime, it just doesn't seem all that interesting this time around. Its kind of odd, but Casino has a story that's not the best to choose, yet Martin Scorsese finds a good way to do it.

Luckily, Martin Scorsese's taught direction does ensure that Casino fits in as a visual experience which benefits from the fine style of the film, the strong script, the fine cinematography and the sufficient amount of violence to entertain viewers in the mood for a visual experience. His gritty touch on the story is successful, and the cast manages to keep the power of the story up.

Robert De Niro is, as ususal, powerful and strongly dramatic as a lead. His charisma is as strong as ever and he carries the story strongly, supplying fine line delivery and strong grip over the script to ensure that finding an issue with him is a challenge.

But really, it's Joe Pesci who is again, absolutely awesome in his third collaboration with Martin Scorsese. His aggression is intense and despite his small size his furious talent for line delivery manages to seriously intimidate audiences very well in the blink of an eye and make a continuously entertaining and memorable presence for viewers to remember Casino by being a constantly powerful entity of a character.

But its Sharon Stone who is the surprisingly strongest part of the cast. In her finest lead role not to feature such sexually suggestive nudity she reminds us that she can in fact act and she can do it very well without using her body as a distraction in Casino by using a gripping tenacity over her lines and emotions to secure an Academy Award nomination for her talents.

So Although Casino is not one of Martin Scorsese's finest efforts and can be boring and prolonged at times, it still stands as a well acted and well made piece of cinema.