Casino Movie Review (1995)
Adapted by Martin Scorsese from a true story, Casino chronicles the rise of Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a brilliant gambler turned casino manager for the Mafia and his subsequent dramatic fall from grace. An all-star cast, including the likes of Robert de Niro (Ace), Sharon Stone (Ginger McKenna), Joe Pesci (Nicky Santoro) and James Wood, give solid performances in an irony-tinged tale of violent crime, corruption and betrayal.
Plot synopsis (includes spoilers)
Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro), is a low-level mobster, who has been sent by Chicago mafia bosses to run the Tangiers Casino in early-‘70s Las Vegas. Sam running the business turns out to become a great success, ‘skimming’ the casino’s cash and doubling profits the pockets of the bosses.
Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), Sam’s childhood friend and now a Mafia enforcer, is sent to Las Vegas to protect Sam and the growing casino. Whilst Sam runs a daily casino business, Nicky violently ‘deals with’ people who cheat or who owe money and don’t pay up.
Although Sam warns his friend to keep a low profile in Las Vegas, Nicky is a loose cannon. After cheating leads to Nicky being listed in the Nevada Black Book, he puts together a criminal gang. The gang’s spate of house-breaking and jewellery thefts draw unwanted police and media attention.
Meanwhile, Sam meets and falls in love with Ginger McKenna (played Sharon Stone), a dancer, hustler and ex-prostitute still entangled with her long-term boyfriend/pimp, Lester Diamond (James Wood). Sam and Ginger marry and have a daughter, Amy, but their relationship quickly descends into turmoil, in part due to Ginger’s ongoing association with Lester Diamond. With their marriage self-destructing, Ginger turns to drugs and alcohol, and after Sam seeks a divorce she plans to kidnap Amy and flee with Lester. Although Sam persuades her to return, Ginger plots to have him killed.
Over the course of the film, we see Sam’s career and most important personal relationships heading towards an inevitable meltdown. Despite the opening scene where we see Sam being blown into the air by a car bomb, he is still alive at the end of the film, working once again as a gambling expert, right back where he started…
The ‘true story’ behind Casino
Interestingly, the Casino movie which was released in 1995 was inspired by the book “Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas” which was a 1995 non-fiction book by Nicholas Pileggi. The author also participated in writing the movie’s screenplay, helping director Martin Scorsese with one of his many movie classics.
Pileggi stated that he decided to write about mob activity in the city of Las Vegas after being inspired by 1980 newspaper coverage of domestic strife between casino typhoon Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal and his wife Geri McGee.
The movie is not a direct ‘true story’ but its characters and events are loosely based on or adapted from real people and happenings, often simplified for narrative clarity. For example, Frank Rosenthal did survive a car bombing incident. Geri McKee did have an affair with Anthony “Tough Tony” Spilotro, the casino’s mob enforcer on whom the character of Nicky Santoro is based. McKeedid eventually die from a drug overdose.
Similarly, the fictional Tangiers casino resort reflects the Stardust Resort and Casino, which was believed to be controlled by Midwest organized crime families in the 1970s. Over six years, a skimming operation at the Stardust Casino reportedly siphoned off $7-$15 million, the largest ever exposed by the FBI at the time it was uncovered, leading to the successful prosecution of several organized crime figures.
Casino – five interesting facts
- This film was the 8th collaboration between director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro. It followed ‘Mean Streets’, ‘Taxi Driver’, ‘New York, New York’, ‘Raging Bull’, ‘The King of Comedy, ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Cape Fear’.
- Martin Scorsese’s mother Catherine had a minor part in the movie as Artie Piscano’s mother.
- The movie was filmed at real casinos in Las Vegas, often using real dealers and pit bosses to create an authentic environment and save tasks such as teaching actors to deal cards at speed.
- Martin Scorsese hired some real parolees and FBI agents from the ‘70s as consultants on film production in order to construct the plot realistically.
- The costume budget for Casino was $1 million USD, with Robert De Niro wearing 70 different costumes, and Sharon Stone 30, many of them bespoke and/or vintage outfits. The actors were allowed to keep their outfits after the filming ended.
