2020 Blind Spot Series: Casino (1995)

When I sat down to watch Martin Scorsese's Casino I only knew that it was a gangster film and that it is considered by many the filmmaker's finest film. The latter is actually the reason I picked it for my Blind Spot as I was curious to see how it could be better than Goodfellas. Turns out, it kind of it as it's essentially Scorsese's attempt to remake his own Goodfellas and yet it stands out on its own as a refreshing, highly entertaining and fascinating crime film.

1973. An expert gambler who has made himself useful to the mob as a sports handicapper, Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Robert De Niro) is sent to Las Vegas to run the Teamsters-funded Tangier Casino where he soon doubles the earnings, making his Mafia bosses back in Chicago very happy as what they care the most is skimming, the practise of transferring cash from the casino directly to mob accountants to be hidden so that they will never appear in the casino's documents and therefore will never get taxed.

Sam soon meets and falls in love with Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone), a beautiful hustler and former prostitute whose boyfriend, Lester Diamond (James Woods), was once her pimp and now is nothing but a cheap hustler, and eventually convinces her to marry him, although she is still in love with Lester.

In the meantime, Sam's best friend from childhood, Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), comes along to Las Vegas, hired by the Mafia to be Ace and the organization's protector. But Nicky is driven by reckless, brutal and violent behaviour and wants to make of Vegas is fiefdom which is a real problem for Sam, a businessman who wants to run as legitimate a business as possible. On top of that, Nicky falls for Ginger and things soon start spiralling out of control.

Inspired by the lives of real-life Mafia mobsters Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and Anthony Spilotro and socialite Geri McGee, Casino's is a hard-hitting as well as highly entertaining and engaging story that provides a brutal look at organized crime and casinos, a story that wonderfully captures the glamour, seductiveness and toughness of Las Vegas — before it was turned into the tourist trap it now is.

It is a story that can be divided into two parts: the first, more technical one shows and explains the less glamourous aspects of casinos, such as people in the account room counting money, how rich people are robbed, how cards are counted, how security cameras keep everything under control, how cheaters are dealt with and, mainly, how gangsters were able to make out of Las Vegas one if not the most profitable arms of their business, which obviously involves taking care of the high officials in the city; the second part is when the drama, a rather compelling one, kicks in as the lives of Sam, Nicky and Ginger further intertwine, and themes of love, greed, drugs, violence, friendship and betrayal are explored.

However, the core of Casino is its characters and their relationships. Despite their flaws — and by flaws, I mean lack of development —, all of the characters are compelling, interesting to follow and realistic. Sam Rothstein is a genius when it comes to taking money from some people and giving it to others, a man who wants to keep everything under control but is often unable to predict the problems he has to face. I found that the character lacks motivation as we can't really pin down the reason why he does what he does, but it's truly fascinating to follow this man who thinks himself as a serious, clean businessman when he's actually a gangster. Nicky Santoro is just as fascinating. A lowly gangster who eventually builds his own criminal empire, Nicky is a killer, gambler and thief, a hot-head who snaps when pushed too far and who is willing to go over his bosses' heads to get what he wants. Theirs is kind of a love-hate relationship — they are friends and love each other but Nicky is a huge complication to Sam because he doesn't want to be controlled and just wants to have his way so it's only a matter of time before they clash. The other major character is Ginger. She is as troubled as she is beautiful, the kind of woman who can't say no to anyone if it means she can get what she wants but at the same time she is not patient enough to reap the benefits. She is weak, not as brilliant as she first appears and finds in drugs her way to escape.

The performances are terrific. Although he essentially plays the same gangster he always plays, Robert De Niro brings plenty of depth to the character and does a very good job of making of Sam some sort of tragic hero. Sharon Stone is surprisingly excellent as Ginger as she plays the character in such a mature and serious way and convincingly delivers the character's emotions. The standout, however, is Joe Pesci. He is downright terrific in the role of Nicky with a performance that is both funny and genuinely scary.

In addition, Casino and its 3 hours run in a smooth, fast pace with beautiful cinematography, excellent editing, great sets and a terrific soundtrack that plays a huge part in the storytelling. The dialogue is excellent and so are the several voice-over narrations that really get you hooked.

There are some moments when there's so much violence it becomes unbearable — I stomach violence very well but I had to look away on one occasion because it was so intense I just couldn't — but ultimately, this is a terrific gangster film that fully immerses its viewers in 1970s Las Vegas.