Casino (1995)

Elevator Pitch: Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein is hired by element of the Mafia to be in charge of the Tangiers casino, assisted by “made man” Nicky Santoro who provides the muscle where necessary. It all goes well until Sam falls for Ginger McKenna a hustler who never shakes off her affection for her former pimp. When Sam discovers Ginger giving her former lover money he has him beaten up, starting her on the road to addiction and distress, on the way becoming Nickey’s lover. By now the FBI are observing everything that goes on in Las Vegas, and when Ginger steals the key to Sam’s safe deposit box, and the FBI pick her up with the contents the whole pack of cards come stumbing down.

Content: There is sex but no nudity, showgirls but no nakedness, and a lot of violence with machine guns, hand guns and blunt instruments plus quite a bit of dinking and drug taking. The head honchos of the Mafia are old but threatening, Sam is clever and focused, Nickey is frightening and violent – but both are weakened by Ginger. The bosses do not like infidelity in the team and after Ginger is shaken down by the FBI they are all arrested, so there must be no witnesses.

A View: It was difficult to get used to the voice-overs by several people, but once adjusted it is rivetting. It is ranked at 140th on the IMDb hit list, and Sharon Stone was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars and won in the caterogry at the Golden Globes. Robert De Nero just does what he does but Joe Pesci was fantastic, and I was surprised that he did not even get a nomination for anything. What can I say, it is almost an AMOST MUCH WATCH so definitely worth the cost of a download.

Additional Info: The costume budget for the film was $1 milion. Robert De Nero had 70 outfits and Sharon Stone 40.