Classic Movie Review : Casino (1995)
The first two movies that come to mind when discussing director Martin Scorsese’s storied career are probably Raging Bull and Goodfellas. They’re his most notorious movies that were robbed of the Oscar for Best Picture and arguably bookended his most prolific decade as a creator. But Scorsese’s most enduring legacy is not with the critics or Hollywood establishment: his movies survive the test of time so well because they’re smart, accessible and (most important) insanely rewatchable. Today, I want to discuss the most rewatchable of them all: his Las Vegas epic Casino.
Based on a non-fiction book written by Nicholas Pileggi, Casino tells the story of two friends: Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro) and Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), who are given a Las Vegas casino to run, by the mob. Despite not being officially in charge of the place, Ace turns the Tangiers into an immediate fountain of money. But such success changes everything: Ace is starting to take decisions without thinking about his future, like marrying troublesome Ginger (Sharon Stone) and the vultures are starting to show up. You can’t rule a city like Vegas without making people jealous.
Casino is a movie about success. The characters do not struggle one bit to “make it”. Ace is literally GIVEN a casino to run because he’s the smartest gambler on the mob’s roster. Nicky is so ruthless that he becomes the king of Las Vegas’ underworld overnight. Their struggle is to stay on top because their presence upsets the precarious balance of inner politics Las Vegas was built upon. In 2019 still, it’s a quite subversive take on mainstream cinema storytelling. The story of Casino starts where most movies finish: when the characters reach the American Dream.
This is why I love Casino so much. It explores the political and psychological weight of success like no other movies that I know of. Movies in general foster a profound misconception that success/failure is a binary proposition. That if you succeed, you’re set for life and that you cannot fail anymore, because most movies end when the protagonist starts being successful. In Casino, every decision Ace takes has the potential to doom his business. Even variables out of his control (like Nicky’s bloodlust) threaten to topple his empire like a house of cards.
In Casino, success is not a goal. It’s a responsibility that overtakes your life.
Another aspect I really like about Casino is the subversion of the American myth of the Far West. Ace and Nicky are two East coast “pilgrims” who travel West to a land they call themselves “pure and untouched”, knowing they’ll make a fortune by being first over there. In many ways, the Las Vegas depicted in Casino functions like the Old West, where people bury their problems in the desert instead of trusting the flimsy authorities. Casino not only shines a different light on Western expansion, but also on the idea that becoming rich and important makes life somehow easier.
In my humble opinion, Casino is Martin Scorsese’s best movie. I really like his body of work in general, but this is the one movie I truly love. Not only it’s a different take on mobster epic (a genre he perfected), but it’s a radically different take on the American Dream narrative and mainstream cinema storytelling in general. It’s brutal. It’s funny. Sometimes it takes itself serious. Sometimes it doesn’t. It’s an experience and a truly original vision. Not quite a desert island film for me, but almost. Casino aged like fine wine and it’s available on Netflix. Go watch it again!
8.8/10
