Casino is a movie about gambling, and if you’re lucky enough to win a little money while playing it, you’ll probably keep going. But over the long haul, the house always wins. That’s why casinos are so careful to lure players in with free drinks, which dulls judgment and helps them forget the clock—and the fact that they’re spending their hard-earned cash on a game of chance that has an overwhelming house edge.
Director Martin Scorsese dials up Goodfellas to 11 in this sexy, slick movie that takes us inside the world of Las Vegas casinos and their mob ties. Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro) runs the fictional Tangiers hotel in Vegas, which is a front for funneling money out to mob elders back East. He’s also in love with a former hooker/call girl called Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone), who still loves her pimp Lester Diamond (Michael Woods). Mob muscle guy Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) arrives to protect Ace, but quickly begins running his own rackets.
Much of Casino plays like a documentary, with fast-cut style and narration by Rothstein and other mob figures describing how the Mafia skimmed millions out of Vegas casinos. But the film eventually becomes a full-blown story, with twists and turns that include ties between casinos and politicians, Teamsters union bosses, and the Chicago mob and its Kansas City branch. Despite being almost three hours long, the film never feels padded or sluggish—and its conclusion is a gut-wrenching one.