Casino Review
Gambling is a fun way to pass the time and may even make you some money. But don’t expect to be able to retire on a private island because you rolled the dice right. The reality of casino gambling is much more complicated than the twinkly lights, neon signs and opulence that we’re used to seeing on the big screen.
A casino is a gambling establishment that offers games of chance and sometimes skill. The most popular games are slot machines, craps, roulette, blackjack and baccarat. In modern casinos, players insert coins or paper tickets with barcodes into a machine and spin the reels to see what combinations will appear. Slot machines vary in appearance, from traditional fruit machines to video machines that replicate spinning reels on a screen. All slots are based on pure chance, with the exception of video poker, where players can use a skill to maximize their winnings.
In Casino, director Martin Scorsese dials up the brashness and lurid decadence of mob life to 11. Robert De Niro is unforgettable as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, the Tangiers hotel owner who funnels funds to his mafia elders back east. Joe Pesci adds the requisite menace as mobster Nicky Santoro, and their dynamic is one of the most fascinating aspects of the film.
Whether it’s the torture scene, the car bomb or the buried alive cornfield, Scorsese uses violence as a blunt instrument to depict the true nature of mob crime in his most realistic movie to date. But it’s his portrayal of the relationship between Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone) and her mob husband that makes Casino so compelling.