Martin Scorsese’s Vegas crime epic is aglitter with ungodly betrayals, punishment, and chaos emblematic of Sin City, USA. I could try to describe Casino as a Vegas Goodfellas, a 1995 The Wolf of Wall Street, or a more glamorous The Irishman, but Casino truly is its own monster, an embodiment of sin that does more to demonstrate the terrifying, gritty fallout than the momentary luxury of success.
A rewatch of Casino is always warranted as a masterwork of Scorsese’s, but especially at a time when film runtimes and Scorsese himself seem to be the center of some sort of repetitive online discourse, it’s worth noting that Casino is a thrilling and fascinating three-hour long masterpiece that absolutely earns its runtime and serves as another poignant critique of American industry and wealth. Casino, as well as any of Scorsese’s works, makes it emphatically clear that his creative talent and mastery of film as an art is unparalleled and could never be understated.
Egregious wealth gushes like the blood spilled in menacing backrooms of the casinos Mafia associate Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein (Robert De Niro) runs. He spends his spoils on Ginger (Sharon Stone), a showgirl with an affinity for fur coats and her toxic con artist ex. Rothstein works alongside his fiery childhood friend Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), who’s recklessness strains their relationship. As the FBI begins to close in and the sleaze catches up with them, their worlds built on betrayal and wealth collapse onto them. It’s a fast-paced, intense narrative that garners your attention with glitz and glamor, and drags it through the gritty criminal underbelly lying underneath. Casino proves the unquenchable thirst for wealth and power is a cycle of destruction, a whirlpool that drags in and drowns anyone swimming nearby.
Scorsese has always depicted true stories of Mafia and crime as tragedies and losses, and even those greedy and conniving enough to make it to the top can’t stay there forever. The rush is thrilling, blinding, and all-encompassing, but it’s just that – a rush. A short high on power and money that will quickly deplete and drain, as the demons that fueled a wealth-driven force to climb to the top will also serve as his downfall. And that’s that.
Casino
1995
dir. Martin Scorsese
178 min.
Screens Tuesday, 5/30, 7:00pm @ Kendall Square Cinema
Part of the month-long series: May’d Men: Scorsese & De Niro
