Review of Casino (1995) by Ryan H — 17 Sep 2011

Amazing cinematography, strong performances, and thorough characterization are what makes Casino such a highly talked about film. I truly knew each of the characters by the end. Who is with me that Ginger should have been killed an hour into the film? Of course if someone doesn't agree with that then they have way too high of a tolerance. She was perhaps one of the most aggravating characters ever created. I was so happy when Rothstein said "once a hooker, always a hooker." On the other hand, he was being stupid too. Just give her the dang money and keep the kid! Get her out of your house. The most interesting part of the film is how Scorsese decides to tell the story. So much is done through narration and montages. Who would think that a 3 hour montage film would work? The whole thing isn't a montage, but 3/4 of the film probably is. But it works. Not perfectly, but it does. At first we see a man on top of his game, then a man who decides to gamble with his life in a way that the audience knows he will lose it, and then we see the woman take control of his life without him realizing it. A man who can bet on anything and be right because he looks at all the minor details couldn't see that Ginger was the worst possible idea in the world. Not everyone is perfect. Scorsese returns to style with Casino that he did with Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and Mean Streets. I just don't think it turned out as great as these other films, but I definitely appreciate his experiment with this new style of storytelling. And I was definitely entertained throughout the whole thing.

**SPOILERS**.

Up until the end, I seriously thought that Rothstein was going to be killed in the car. I was completely surprised when he made it out. And I loved the voiceover with Nicky when he is getting killed. He is explaining the story until he gets hit and you hear the wind get knocked out of him. If this was before the car blowing up we would have known for a fact that Rothstein was going to survive. By the way, what is up with Pesci being the guy to mess with De Niro's life? He's going to be the little guy with a big fist, but he always turns that fist towards his friend. Definitely worth Scorsese's name, but I don't know if it's really worthy of being listed with his top films.