Chrichton's World: Review Casino (1995): No matter how often you have watched this film it remains just as strong and compelling!
Review Casino (1995): No matter how often you have watched this film it remains just as strong and compelling!
Casino is one of those films every movie lover should own since it's a masterpiece. It's the type of film you could have watched a hundred times and still would not get tired of it. If it's on you can't look away. You just have to watch it and you will keeping watching until it's finished. Even when some events are very hard to stomach and the film rarely spares you with it's intensity and violence.
But what is so special about this film that will make you keep watching it? First of all the marvelous direction of Martin Scorsese. He knows how to tell a story. He takes his time to let you know who the players are, what they are about and how they are mixed up with each other. Right from the start he makes you curious about them since he basically is educating you about how the mob is doing business. In this case the ins and outs concerning the casino world before Las Vegas became an amusement paradise. Which is incredibly fascinating. Then there is the cast. Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci and James Woods to name but a few. All of them grand actors. You do have to realize that this is Robert De Niro at the the top of his game. No matter what he did in these years he could do no wrong. It's quite sad what has happened to him. I mean even if he is playing in bad films he still can act better than the average actor. But he used to be one of those guys that you could depend on. If De Niro was in it you knew it was going to be one hell of a movie. Now you will have to contemplate whether to take the risk or not. That is quite sad if you ask me.
Is the duration (178 min.) a problem? Absolutely not. Every second matters in the tale that is being told. There isn't a single scene that is redundant or filler. Granted after having seen the films many times some scenes with Sharon Stone can feel a little dragged out although they are there to show how patient Rothstein (De Niro) is and that some tragedies are simply unavoidable. Rothstein himself gambled, knowing very well what the outcome could have been. Then again he is only human. Every human is allowed to make mistakes.
Casino is quite dark and grim but is infused with a lot of humour so that you can deal with the absurdity and monstrosities that are occurring. Even today the film is quite horrific. This is to remind you that we are dealing with criminals of the highest order who are despicable and vile. Never ever forget that! Movies like Casino give us some insight into that and I for one am grateful since it really puts matters in perspective.