So, its time for the first post of the year, which leads me to wish you all a belated Happy New Year and the post will be yet another revisit of my review of Casino, the acclaimed crime drama directed by Martin Scorsese. So, this will be the usual revisit where I will add in a few extra details to sections but I won't add a vast amount as this review is already pretty big!
So, after all this time, how does Casino fair after 31 years??? Well, let's find out...
And the usual warning is coming up...
PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!
STORY
So, the story starts back in the 1970s
where Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Robert De Niro) is a sports handicapper who
is associated with the mob, is sent to Las Vegas and asked to run the
Tangiers casino, which is funded by the Teamsters (the American labour
union). At first Sam refuses but is soon persuaded into doing it by one
of the mob's associates and head of the Teamsters union, Andy Stone (Alan King).
Once Sam takes over
the casino he uses his expert innovations and experience in book making
and gambling to double the casino's profits. The mob who are running
the casino in the background, at the same time are doing a skim on the
casino's profits, and the bosses send out Sam's friend and Caporegime
Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) and his crew to Las Vegas, in order to protect
the mob's interests in the casino.
However as things progress Nicky
lets himself known in town and around the casinos, and before he knows
it, he is banned from the casino or any casino in Las Vegas. Meanwhile
this happens Sam starts seeing a female hustler, Ginger McKenna (Sharon
Stone) whom he falls in love with, however Ginger doesn't feel that way
about Sam. Regardless of that, Sam persuades Ginger into marrying him
and promises to set her up for live by giving her a joint account where
she will have over 2 million dollars to her name.
After they marry, things start to crumble as Ginger still hangs around with her
ex-boyfriend and pimp Lester Diamond (James Woods). On finding this out
Sam sends Nicky's men to beat up Lester, which horrifies Ginger who
then resents Sam for his actions, and she starts to confide in Nicky,
although she isn't aware of his involvement in the incident.
While
this is all going on, Sam although he is running the casino, he hasn't
officially filed for a licence, and he has been re-naming his job title
in order to avoid attracting attention toward this. But soon after Sam
fires one of his employees Don Ward (John Bloom) for incompetence, Don's brother Patt
Webb (L.Q. Jones) comes to see Sam about it and asks that he hire Don
back, but Sam refuses. Webb though however is a county commissioner and
he soon finds out through the newspapers that Sam has stated he is "the
boss" of the Tangiers in Las Vegas, he then asks that an investigation
take place to see if Sam has filed for a licence or not.
This leads to
further complications as on the day of Sam's trial hearing for
presenting his case to petition for a licence, he is denied in the
hearing, which leaves Sam outraged. Sam also soon after deliberately
raises as much media attention about his case as possible by going on
TV, with a live show from the Tangiers, which has guest stars etc. The
mob realise that this is pissing off friends of theirs in business, send
Andy Stone to talk to Sam, who tells him he should quit the job, but
Sam insists he can't, but rather he wishes that Nicky would take a break
and leave for a while. On hearing this, Nicky is furious and sets up a
meeting out in the desert with Sam, where he confronts him and tells him never to go over his head again.
By this time, Nicky has brought
alot of heat on himself with the Las Vegas police force who were once
co-operative with the casino officials and mob associates, are now so
pissed off they want to nail him for anything they can. Nicky is also
determined to plant his own flag out in Vegas and to go after
everything, the skim, the casino, his old bosses back home including
Remo Gaggi (Pasquale Cajano) who is the most powerful boss in the crime
family. But Nicky in bringing heat on himself, he allows himself to
become sloppy and disorganised, as he and his crew get all hopped up on
drink and cocaine.
Sam's relationship with Ginger has also deteriorated
really badly as well by then, as by this time she has become an
alcoholic. Ginger also goes to Nicky for help in order to try and get
her money that she and Sam placed in the bank, and at this time they
begin having an affair behind Sam's back. Sam however soon finds out,
and is horrified as he knows if word of the affair gets back to the mob
bosses, they will be all killed, as its bad for business.
And
its from here things inevitably go further downhill for the trio as the FBI
close in and tighten their grip on the Mafia run casino and everyone
else involved....
THOUGHTS ON FILM & CHARACTERS
The comparisons here in Casino to Martin Scorsese's
other crime classic, Goodfellas is undeniable as they both depict the American
Mafia during the 1960's and 70's and feature relatively similar types
of characters. However Goodfellas at the time of its release received
great acclaim but Casino on the other hand was not given the same level
of praise on its release and was seen as just another retread of
Goodfellas.
But in retrospect I would have to actually say that Casino manages to
equal Goodfellas for quality, as its scope is much wider than Goodfellas
and it has a
more epic feel. Goodfellas might succeed more when it comes to the
character studies and showing Henry Hill and his wife Karen as a
likeable if flawed couple whereas with Casino, the characters are
largely unlikable with Sam Rothstein and Ginger trapped in a toxic
relationship.
As for the background of the film, its highlighted at the start as being based on true events rather than an actual true story although in this case it amounts to the same thing really, the only difference is the characters have been given different names compared to the real life people involved.
As for the mob its pretty much a well known fact that the mob had ties
with the casinos back in those days, but despite being the obvious, as
usual Scorsese takes this subject matter and turns it into a gripping
and highly entertaining film. Like he did in Goodfellas, Scorsese
heavily uses the narrative in the film here, and he constantly has Sam
and Nicky narrate the film, and there is even a short passage with Frank
Vincent narrating too (who plays one of Nicky's crime associates, Frank
Marino). And it never hinders the film, in fact it really plays a
crucial part in the film and keeps the story flowing nicely.
WARNING: BIG SPOILER IN THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH!
And one of
the neatest touches in the narrative is the scene where Nicky finally
meets his demise in the cornfields at the end and as his crew mate Frank
Marino hits him with a baseball bat, Nicky's narration cuts off with an
"aghhh!". It also helps to have Pesci in the film right up until the
end as he carries a fair amount of the film's energy, like he did in
Goodfellas, so it was great that he is in it throughout.
Character
wise, Casino rarely has any sympathetic characters in it at all, in
fact they are all mostly fairly despicable, and Sam himself is such an
arrogant obsessive control freak, that its hard to like him. However
Sam is not without his redeeming qualities, as he clearly loved Ginger,
and he wanted his marriage to work, and you do feel a bit of sympathy
for him when he realises how he could never reach her, and how the
weight of managing the casino takes it toll on him. Sam also comes
across as a good father to his daughter, Sammie, and this is clearly
shown in a couple of scenes.
Ginger is far less likeable, as she too
is massively self-absorbed in her own greed and marries Sam merely as a
forced convenience so she can eventually get her hands on his money.
And in a way that's probably one of the film's lesser aspects is that
Sam and Ginger's relationship is a forced one, and Sam's love is very
much unrequited, unlike in Goodfellas where Henry and Karen Hill both
loved each other as a couple, despite their differences.
Ironically, the character that is easier to empathise with is the one character you
probably shouldn't and this is Nicky, and its probably more because he
is a married man with a family, and he has a son, little Nicky, and we
see Nicky's humanity come out in certain scenes in the film,
particularly where he makes breakfast for his son every morning, no
matter what he was up to.
As a bad guy, while he is
pretty vicious, and
he has his fair share of vicious scenes in Casino, Nicky also displays
some shreds of decency, one being where he has one of the rival mob
guy's beaten to a pulp, as the guy refuses to talk, Nicky has the man's
head stuck in a vise, where he pleads with the man and says "don't make
me do this, come on, don't make me be a bad guy". And that's difference
between Tommy in Goodfellas and Nicky in Casino, Tommy is a psychopath
with zero conscience or compassion whereas Nicky is a sociopath with a
small sense of conscience and empathy.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains very strong language and spoilers!)
OK, so this is a big section ahead!!
Performance
wise, Casino is
pretty much top drawer as the cast are all on terrific form. This is
going to be tough to narrow down, so I will try and keep the notable
scenes to just five per actor max (which is not easy either!!).
Starting with Robert De Niro who gives a great performance as Sam Rothstein, who was in reality based on Franky "Lefty"
Rosenthal, who was a sports better for the mob. De Niro's take on Sam
is that he is an arrogant asshole, who bosses around everyone in the film,
hires and fires staff at the drop of a hat, and while he is quite
controlling of Ginger at times, you do realise he does love her, and
that he is driven crazy by her.
And De Niro naturally
has his share of great scenes in the film, starting with the one where
Sam dishes a strong warning to a couple of cheaters at the casino, who
are caught out by him and the security guards.
So, in
the scene, one of the cheater's is zapped by a cattle prod and
forcefully taken into a basement room where some of the security guards
hold down the cheater's hands on the table and another one comes at him
with a buzz saw.
And Ace narrates "Turns out this guy
and his fuckin pals had been knocking this place dead for years. It was
time to make an example of these pricks, to show them that the party
was over". So, Ace signals for the guard with buzzsaw to turn it off
and he approaches the cheater and asks him "I'm just curious. I saw you
shuffling your checks with your right hand. Can you do that with both
hands?" and the cheater says "No". Sam then asks "You can't do it with
both hands?" and the cheater says "No, sir" and Sam asks him "Can you do
it with your left hand?" and the cheater nervously says
"Well..I...never tried" and Sam asks "So, you're a righty?" and the
cheater says "Y...yeah". Sam then signals to one of the guards, who
repeatedly bangs a large hammer on the cheater's hand, who screams out
in agony and Sam then says "Now, you're gonna have to learn with your
right hand".
This is then followed by moment where the
other cheating winner (who is wearing a fake wig and glasses) is taken
to the basement and he sees what they have done to his partner. So, Sam
says to the winner "All right, I'm gonna give you a choice. You can
either have the money and the hammer or you can walk out of here. You
can't have both. What do you want?" and the winner nervously says "I
just wanna get out of here". Sam then warns him "And don't forget to
tell your friends what happens if they fuck up around here. You
understand?". The winner then says "I'm sorry, I made a bad mistake"
and Sam angrily says "You're fuckin' right you made a bad mistake!
'Cause if you come back here, if we catch either one of ya, we're gonna
break your fuckin' heads and you won't walk out of here! You see that
fuckin' saw? We're gonna use it. We don't fuck around in this place. You
got it?! Get outta here!" and the winner, relieved says "Thank you".
Another
good scene from De Niro is when Sam confronts one of his incompetent
members of staff, Don Ward, a real Texan cowboy, who failed to act on
three of their slot machines being rigged.
So, in the
scene Sam angrily asks Don "Four reels, sevens across on three $15,000
jackpots. Do you have any idea what the odds are?!" and Don says "Shoot,
its gotta be in the millions. Maybe more". Sam then asks "Three
fuckin' jackpots in 20 minutes? Why didn't you pull the machines? Why
didn't you call me?!" and Don says "Well, it happened so quick...3 guys
won, I didn't have a chance" and Sam, growing even more annoyed asks him
"You didn't see the scam?! You didn't see what was going on?!". Don
then says "There's no way to determine that, Sam..." but Sam angrily
says "Yes there is! An infallible way, they WON!" and Don says "Well,
its a casino! People gotta win sometimes!".
Sam,
however is growing more and more angry with Don and he says "Ward,
you're pissing me off. Now you're insulting my intelligence; what you
think I am, a fuckin' idiot? You know goddamn well that someone had to
get into those machines and set those fuckin' reels. The probability of
one four-reel machine is a million and a half to one; the probability of
three machines in a row; it's in the billions! It cannot happen, would
not happen, you fuckin' momo! What's the matter with you? Didn't you see
you were being set up on the second win?!!". Don then tells Sam "I
really think you're over-reacting..." but Sam has had it with Don and he
furiously tells him "Listen, you fuckin' yokel, I've had it with you.
I've been carrying your ass in this place ever since I got here! Get
your ass and get your things and get out of here!". Don offended then
says "You might regret this, Mr Rothstein. This is not the way to treat
people!" and Sam furiousy says "Listen, if you didn't know you were
being scammed you're too fuckin' dumb to keep this job, if you did know,
you were in on it. Either way, YOU'RE OUT! Get out!".
Then
there is the scene where Sam and Nicky confront each other out in the
desert after Nicky has heard of Sam's conversation with Andy Stone as
Sam suggested that Nicky take a break and leave town to let him run the
casino quietly.
So, in the scene, Nicky storms up to
Sam and angrily asks him "Where the fuck do you get off talking to
people about me behind my back, going over my head?!" and Sam asks "What
people?" and Nicky says "What, you think I wasn't gonna find out?" and
Sam says "I don't know what you're talking about, Nick". And Nicky
angrily says how Sam said he was bringing heat down on him and he feels
he is trying order him out of town but Sam tries to reason with him and
says "I didn't do anything, I mean, I didn't order you or anybody. I
only told Andy Stone that you had a lot of heat on you and that was a
problem". Nicky then furiously asks Sam "You want me to get out of my
own fuckin town?!" and Sam tells him "Yeah I said l-let the bullshit
blow over for a while, so I can run the casino. Anything goes wrong with
the casino it's my ass, it's not yours, it's my ass!".
Nicky
then furiously tells Sam that he is what counts out in Vegas not Sam's
clubs or TV shows and he angrily asks what the hell is doing on TV
anyway. So, Sam says "I'm only on TV because I got to be able to hang
around the casino. You understand that, you know that, come on". Nicky
however furiously refutes this and says "You WANTED to go on TV!" and
Sam says "Yeah I did want to go on TV. That way I have a forum, I can
fight back. I'm known. People see me. They know they can't fuck around
with me like they could if I was an unknown, that's right, yeah!". And
as Nicky says "You're making a big fucking sceptical of yourself!" Sam
says "Me? I wouldn't even be in this situation if it wasn't for you! You
brought down so much fuckin heat on me, I mean every time I meet
somebody the big question is "do I know you?!!". Nicky angrily then
tells Sam that he only exists out in Vegas because of him and if it
wasn't from him any old wise guy would "take a piece of your Jew ass!"
and he warns him never to go over his head again and storms off and
drives away, leaving Sam alone.
Then there is the scene
where Sam confronts Ginger when he catches her late at night on the
phone to someone where in a hushed voice she says to the other person
she's had it with Sam and wants him killed. So, Sam on hearing stands
behind Ginger and asks her "You wanna get rid of me? Go ahead! Get rid
of me!". Sam then grabs the phone and says "Hello?" but Ginger
furiously then struggles with Sam and she yells "YES! I FUCKING HATE
YOU!! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!! YES! I WANNA KILL YOU! I HATE YOUR
FUCKING GUTS!!". Sam then drags Ginger by her hands and shouts "You
hate me guts???!! I want you to come with me now!!!" and he throws her
into the bedroom as he shouts "I want you out of here! I want you out
of here!!".
Sam then throws a bag at Ginger and shouts
"There! Take your fucking bag and get out of here!" and Ginger shouts
back "I'll go but I want my money right now! The arrangement is over!"
and Sam raging shouts "No kidding! NO KIDDING!!!". Ginger then shouts
"You can't just put me in the street! I need some cash right now!" and
Sam yells at her "You haven't been straight with me ever since I met
you! You never even loved me in the first place! I need eyes in the back
of my head with you, you fuckin' bitch!!!". And Ginger screams back
"LOVE YOU?! HOW I COULD LOVE YOU?! YOU TREAT ME LIKE I'M YOUR FUCKING
DOG!!" and she throws some shoes at him and Sam, going out the room to
gather some money shouts back "YOU'RE LOWER THAN A DOG!!". Sam then
comes back and throws the money at Ginger and shouts "Here! Here! Is
this enough money? Will it last you two fuckin' days? Take it! Greedy
bitch. Take the fuckin' money!!".
And as Ginger
leaves with her suitcase and some money she says to Sam "I'm taking Amy"
and Sam angrily tells her "You're not taking Amy!" and Ginger says "I
am!" and Sam angrily says to her "You're stoned! You're a junkie! Get
out of here!". Ginger shouts back "I'm not! She's my daughter too!"
but Sam forcibly opens the door and pushes her out and shouts "Send my
lawyers a letter, god-fucking-damn you!".
However a
little later, as Sam lies alone in his bed, smoking a cigarette, we hear
a car pull up outside and Ginger comes back into the house and lies
down next to Sam and she reaches out to him, seeking forgiveness and
after a moment, takes her hand. And Sam narrates "The funny thing was,
after all that, I didn't want her to go. She was the mother of my kid. I
loved her. And later, I realized I didn't want to give her the money...
because if I did, I knew I'd never see her again".
And
lastly there is the final scene where (SPOILER OF SORTS!!) Sam is in
San Diego as a handicapper once again, making money for local people.
And Sam, wearing a large pair of glasses (a la Dennis Nordon's!)
narrates "But in the end, I wound up right back where I started. I could
still pick winners, and I could still make money for all kinds of
people back home. And why mess up a good thing? And that's that". Sam
then takes off his glasses and he gazes contemplatively off to the
distance before we fade out to the credits.
Joe Pesci next up is superb as the mobster, Nicky
Santoro (based on real life capo Tony "The Ant" Spilotro) and given that
Spilotro was actually a family man in real life, this allows for Pesci
to play the character with a little more humanity than he did with Tommy
De Vito in Goodfellas. And this makes Nicky's character that bit more
interesting and three dimensional given that Tommy was just a flat out,
yet colourful, psychopath. Yet with Nicky there are times where you can
actually empathise with him a little despite his criminal behaviour.
Joe Pesci himself was also perfectly cast in this role on a physical
basis because unlike his role of Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas, which was
based on Tommy DeSimone, who was in fact 6ft 2" in reality, Tony "The
Ant" Spilotro was only 5ft 2" tall and Joe himself was 5ft 4". So in the
end it all worked out nicely casting Joe in the role.
And
Joe naturally also has his share of great scenes and even moments of
narration, which are throughout the film just like De Niro's are. So,
this also will be tough to nail down just a few scenes for Joe here.
But
to start off, there is the scene where Sam has one of Nicky's men, a
cowboy, ejected from the casino for being rude to Sam and for refusing
not take his feet off a poker table he is sitting at and put his shoes
back on. So, in the aftermath Nicky makes a call to Sam to find out
what happened.
So, Nicky in the scene speaks to Sam on
the phone and asks "Ace, what happened over there? I mean, did you know
that guy you threw out was with me?" and Sam tells he didn't know that
but he tells Nicky that the cowboy refused to take his feet off the
table and he insulted him by telling him to go fuck himself. So, Nicky
furiously turns to the cowboy and asks him angrily "You called my friend
a faggot?! You tell him to go fuck himself?!" and he hits the cowboy
in the face with the receiver and he shouts at him "You big fucking
hick..!". Nicky then warns the cowboy "You go over there right now and
you apologize. You better hope he lets you back in. If you ever get out
of line over there again, I'll smash your fucking head so hard you won't
be able to get that cowboy hat on! You hear me? Fucking hick!".
Nicky
then goes back to Sam on the phone and tells him "Sammy, listen. This
guy obviously doesn't know who he was talking to, you understand? He
doesn't know that, uh, we're dear friends. I mean, he's already very
sorry. But, uh, if you could do me a favor to let him back in, I swear
to you he'll never get out of line again. I promise you that". Sam then
tells Nicky that he will let him back in but if does it again he will
never set foot in the casino again. Nicky then says to Sam "Alright,
thanks, pal".
Nicky then hangs up the phone and turns to the humbled cowboy
and with disgust says to him "You took your boots off? You put
your feet on the table... you shit-kicking, stinky,
horse-manure-smelling motherfucker you! You fuck me up over there, I'll
stick you in a hole in the fucking desert! You understand?!!". Nicky
then slaps the cowboy and shouts at him "Go over there and apologise!"
and he kicks the cowboy in the ass and shouts "Get over there!".
Another
good scene is when Nicky chastises a gambler, who owes Nicky money and
he says to the gambler "You call yourself a man? You know you're a lyin'
lowlife, motherfuckin' gamblin' degenerate prick?! You know that's what
you are? Two small kids at home. I gave you money to pay the fuckin'
rent...and buy groceries, put the heat on. Your wife called Frankie and
told him the fuckin' heat's off. And you didn't gamble that fuckin'
money?! No?! You didn't?!". And the gambler quietly says "No, I
didn't..." prompting Nicky to yell at him "Don't fuck with me, Al! Don't
make a fuck outta me. You wanna embarrass me and make a fool outta me?
You didn't gamble? Tell me you gambled
the fuckin' money... I'll
give you the fuckin' money to put the fuckin' heat on! Did you gamble?!!
Huh?!!". The gambler then ashamedly nods his head and Nicky looks at
him, disgusted, starts to count some money "Fuckin' degenerate. Fuckin'
kids at home. Here!" and he gives the gambler some money Get the fuck
outta here!". And as the gambler says thanks and leaves, Nicky shouts
after him "Let me find out you fucked up. I'll leave you where I find
you!".
Then there is the scene where Nicky and his crew
beat up and torture a new rising star mobster, Tony Dogs (Carl
Ciarfilo) who shot up one of the Chicago outfit boss's places. So in the
scene after brutally beating up Dogs for two days and nights, Nicky
finally has to resort to putting Dogs head in a vice.
So,
in the scene, Nicky narrates "To tell you the truth, I had to admire
this guy. He was one of the toughest Irish men I'd ever met. For two
days and two fuckin' nights, we beat the shit out of this guy. I mean,
we even stuck ice-picks in his balls!". And we see Nicky's men drag a
bloodied and battered Dogs into a warehouse room where they lay him down
on a table with a vice on it and they place his in between the opened
vice.
And Nicky says to Dogs "Listen to me Anthony. I
got your head in a fuckin' vise. I'll squash your head like a fuckin'
grapefruit if you don't give me a name. Don't make me have to do this,
please. Don't make me be a bad guy, come on!". However, Dogs with what
little breath he has left, remains defiant and says weakly "Fuck you!"
and Nicky shakes his head in disbelief and says "This motherfucker, you
believe this?! Two fucking days and nights?!!". So, Nicky tightens the
vice and he shouts out loud "Fuck me?! You motherfucker?! Fuck my
mother?!!" and as the vice tightens on Dog's head, one of his eyes
suddenly pops out of its socket and the Nicky and his men look away in
disgust.
So, Nicky finally yells "Give me a fuckin
name!!" and Dogs finally gives in and says "Charlie M" and Nicky asks
"Charlie M???" and Dogs painfully says "Charlie M!". So, this prompts
Nicky to explode "YOU MAKE ME POP YOUR EYE OUT OF YOUR FUCKING HEAD, TO
PROTECT THAT PIECE OF SHIT???!! CHARLIE M???!! YOU DUMB
MOTHERFUCKER!!!". Dogs finally can't take the pain anymore and finally
cries out "Kill me, you fuck! Kill me!!" and Nicky turns to Frank and
says "Frankie! Do him a fuckin favour!" so Frankie takes his knife and
cuts Dogs's throat and Nicky walks out and mutters to himself "Charlie
M!".
Then there is the scene where Nicky meets with
Ace's banker, Charlie as he wants his money back that he invested in
Charlie's bank. So, as Charlie tells Nicky "I told you Nicky when you
started this, that you would have to accept some kind of loss" and Nicky
smiles and says "Yeah. I think I want my money back" and Charlie
laughs a little nervously and asks "What are you gonna do? Strongarm
me?".
So, Nicky explains to Charlie "I think in all
fairness, I should explain to you exactly what it is that I do. For
instance tomorrow morning I'll get up nice and early, take a walk down
over to the bank and... walk in and see and, uh... if you don't have my
money for me, I'll... crack your fuckin' head wide-open in front of
everybody in the bank. And just about the time that I'm comin' out of
jail, hopefully, you'll be coming out of your coma. And guess what? I'll
split your fuckin' head open again. 'Cause I'm fuckin' stupid. I don't
give a fuck about jail. That's my business. That's what I do! And we
both know what you do, don't we, Charlie? You fuck people out of money
and get away with it!".
And as Charlie tries to quickly
leave and says "You can't talk to me like that!" Nicky grabs Charlie
threateningly and says "Hey, you fat Irish prick! You put my fucking
money to sleep. You go get my fucking money or I'll put your fucking
brain to sleep!". And Charlie, frightened looks at Sam and says
"Sam...!" and Nicky tells him "Never fucking mind, Sam! This is
personal! I'll be there in the morning! You can try me, Fatso! You
fucking try me!" and Charlie exits down the stairs and Nicky turns to
Sam and asks him "You think he got the point?!".
Then
there is the scene (going over my five scene limit here!) where Nicky
discovers that the FBI have a wiretap in his office (known as the Gold
Rush) so in return, Nicky decides to buy a load of expensive
surveillance gear to keep tabs on them!
So, in the
scene Nicky looks through his binoculars and he narrates "Peek-a-boo,
you fucks, you!" and he says to the feds out the window "I see you, you
motherfuckers!". So, Nicky continues to narrate "If they're gonna watch
me? Fuck em! I'm gonna watch 'em right back! I spent a few bucks. Top
dollar. Who gives a shit?! I got the latest anti-buggin' equipment from
the same places that sell to the fuckin' C.I.A. I had special police
frequency radios, F.B.I. De-scramblers, cameras that see in the dark.
And because of that, the miserable sons of bitches never caught me doin'
anything I couldn't handle!".
And last of all is the
scene where Nicky confronts Sam out in the desert after he has heard of
Sam's conversation with Andy Stone when Sam suggested that Nicky get's
out of town for a while, so Sam can run the casino quietly.
So,
in the scene, Nicky drives his car into the desert where Sam is waiting
for him and Nicky get's out and storms up to Sam and angrily asks him
"Where the fuck do you get off, talking about me behind my back, going
over my head?!". Sam then says "I don't even know what you're talking
about, Nick" and Nicky angrily says "No? You said I'm bringing heat on
YOU? I gotta listen to people because of your fuckin shit? You're
orderin me out? You better get your own fuckin army pal!".
And
Sam tells Nicky that he suggested that Nicky get out of town for a
while to let things blow over but Nicky furiously shouts at Sam "Oh I
don't know whether you know this or not, but you only have your fuckin
casino because I made that possible!! I'm what counts out here, not your
fuckin country clubs or your fuckin TV shows! And what the fuck are you
doing on TV anyhow?!! You know I get calls from back home every fuckin
day, they think you went bat shit!". And Sam tries to explain he's only
TV, so he can hang around the casino but Nicky shouts "Your fuckin ass!
You coulda had the food and beverage job without going on television.
You WANTED to go on TV!".
Sam then finishes by
saying "When you asked me if you could come out here, what did I tell
you? I mean you asked me and I know you were gonna come out no matter
what I said, but what did I tell you? Do you remember what I told
you?!". Nicky however interrupts him and says "Back- Back up, back up a
fuckin' minute here. One minute. I asked you? When the fuck did I ever
ask you if I could come out here? Get this through your head, you Jew
motherfucker you! You only exist out here because of ME!!! That's the
only reason. Without me, you, PERSONALLY, every fuckin' wise guy skell
(slang for a petty criminal) around'll take a piece of your fuckin' Jew
ass!! Then where you gonna
go?! You're fuckin' warned! Don't ever go over my fuckin' head again!
You motherfucker, you!!" and he storms off back to his car and drives
off.
Then there is the scene at Nicky's restaurant where a stoned Ginger sits and Sam storms in to confront her over leaving their daughter, tied up to her bed at home. So, in the scene Nicky tries to calm down Sam and says "Sam, just don't make a scene" but Sam furiously says "I wanna talk to that Irish bitch!" and Nicky then warns him "Hey! Be fuckin nice, calm! Be nice, be calm, don't fuck up in here!".
So, after Ginger is taken back home and rows with Sam, she returns to Nicky's restaurant where Nicky anxiously asks her about what she said to him. So, Ginger says "Why don't you just kill him?!" and Nicky shakes his head and says "Shut the fuck up! You don't know what you're talking about...". Ginger then insists "Then just kill him and get it over with!" and Nicky yells "Oh, don't be a smart ass! I know the guy 35 years and I'm gonna whack him OVER YOU??! Motherfucker! I knew this! I knew it!". Ginger then asks "What about my money?" and Nicky shouts ever louder "How the fuck am I gonna get your money now?! You think he's gonna give you money? Look what you DID to this guy! If you only you kept your fucking mouth shut...aawww what is the use, I should never gotten involved!!". Ginger then furiously attacks Nicky, who drags her out the back of the restaurant and she threatens tearfully to go to th FBI.
So, Nicky heads back and looks at his scratches and says to Frankie "Look at this motherfucker!" and he says to Frankie "I fucked up, Frankie! I fucked up good this time!". Frankie then says "What could you do? I mean she threw herself at you, didn't she?" and Nicky looking scared for once says "I'm in a bad spot here, you know that? A bad fuckin spot!" and he puts his head in his hands.
Last of all is the scene where Nicky and his brother, Dominic, go out into the cornfield and meet with Frankie and the other guys but are soon ambushed and beaten brutally with bats. So, in the scene, Nicky narrates "It took a while for everything to calm down but the bosses later wanted me to go back to Vegas. Dollars, always the fuckin dollars! But it was still way too hot to go anywhere near Vegas. So, the bosses had me and my brother Dominic meet out in the fields, I mean what is right is right and they don't give a fuck about..." and Frankie suddenly hits Nicky with a baseball bat and Nicky shouts "Aghhh!!".
Sharon Stone next up, perhaps
gives her best career performance here as Ginger, Sam's wife, who is a
well known Vegas hustler and former prostitute. However after they
marry, its not long before their marriage goes downhill as Ginger
becomes an drug addled, alcoholic, emotional wreck.
And
Sharon has her own share of good scenes, such as the one where after
Sam has Ginger's ex-boyfriend and former pimp, Lester Diamond (James
Woods) beaten up, she complains about it to Nicky at his trailer (who
unbeknownst to Ginger, arranged the beating).
So, in
the scene, Ginger angrily tells Nicky about what happened and she says
of Sam "He's such a prick! He had some guy from the hotel beat him up.
He didn't want to do it himself. Oh, no, he didn't want to get his own
hands dirty. So why did he have to do that, huh? Tell me!". Nicky tries
to explain "You gotta understand it. He doesn't know if this guy is
shaking you down..." but Ginger says "No. No. I told him all about this
guy before we ever got married. This is no fucking surprise!". And as
Nicky tries to tell Ginger that Sam loves her and he's crazy about her,
Ginger says "Come on! I went into this with my eyes open, you know. I
knew the bottom could drop out at any time. You don't think I'm gonna go
into a situation like this... if I don't think I'm gonna get covered on
the back end!".
Nicky however then suggests that
Ginger try and reconcile with Sam and go slow but Ginger angrily says to
Nicky re: Lester "He could have killed him!! Okay? He could've killed
him. He didn't have to hit him. It's not like I'm sleeping with the
guy.He makes me sneak around to see my own friends. What the fuck is
that all about?!" and Nicky says "I guess its because he loves you, he's
jealous and he worries" but Ginger nearly crying says "Like he gives a
fuck what I do!". So, Nicky tells Ginger "Look, I'll try and find out
what the hell's going on when I see him. I'll talk to him" and Ginger
then hugs Nicky and tearfully says to him "Thanks for putting up with
me". And Nicky takes Ginger's glass of whisky and he tells her "Take it
easy with this shit! This can only make matters worse! You're a
beautiful girl. I've seen a lot of girls get shot to hell from this" and
Ginger through her tears says "You're so nice" and Nicky says "Come on,
I don't wanna see you unhappy".
Then there is the
scene where Sam catches Ginger on the phoning, talking to someone about
the possibility of having him killed. So, Ginger says to the person on
the other end (presumably Nicky) "I want to have him killed. Yes, I want
him killed. I've fuckin' had it. So are you with me on this???". Sam
then breaks the silence and he asks Ginger "You want to get rid of me?
Here I am. Go ahead. Get rid of me!".
So, as Sam grabs
the phone and tries to speak to the person on the line, Ginger struggles
with him and she yells "Yes, I do! I FUCKING HATE YOU!! I can't take it
anymore! Yes, I want to kill you! I HATE YOUR FUCKING GUTS!!!". So,
Sam drags into the bedroom and throws her bag at her and shouts "Take
your fucking bag and get out of here!" and Ginger yells back "I'll go
now but I want my money! I need some cash! You can't just put me into
the street!!!". So, Sam yells at her how she never loved him in the
first place and he needs eyes in the back of his head and Ginger yells
back "LOVE YOU?!! HOW COULD I LOVE YOU??!! YOU TREAT ME LIKE I'M YOUR
FUCKING DOG!!" and Sam tells her "You're LOWER than a dog!!" and Ginger
shouts back "Fuck you!!".
So, as Sam gives Ginger some
money and he tells her to get out, Ginger at the door says to him that
she will take their daughter "I'm taking Amy" and Sam firmly says
"You're not taking, Amy!" and Ginger shouts "I am! I'm waking her and
I'm taking her right now!". Sam furiously tells her "You're stoned!
You're a junkie! Get out of here!" and Ginger shouts "I am not! She's
my daughter too!!" but Sam then shoves her out the front door and shouts
back "Send my lawyers a letter, god-fuckin-damn you!!". And then we
hear Ginger yell "You're not getting away with this! You're not gonna
cheat me out of my end!" and we see her outside shout "Fucker!!" and she
storms off to her car.
Another great and also even
funny moment from Sharon is when Sam takes a stoned Ginger back home
from Nicky's restaurant where she was, not long after Ginger had left
Amy at home, tied to her bed. So, Sam asks Ginger re: Nicky "So, you
need approval from him to go home now?" and Ginger with a look of
contempt asks Sam angrily "So what? So who fucking blew you in the
parking lot before you came in, huh?!". Sam however looks disgusted at
her and says "You make me sick, you fuckin...once a hooker, always a
hooker!" and thing prompts Ginger to yell furiously back "Oh, fuck you!
Fuck you, Sam Rothstein!! FUCK YOU!!" and she storms out and slams the
door.
Then there is perhaps Sharon's best scene in
the film where a crazed Ginger comes back the following morning in her
car where she drives up onto the front garden and she yells at the top
of voice at Sam. So, as Ginger rams the car repeatedly at the rear of
Sam's car in the driveway, she screams out "You come down here right
now! Get down here and talk to me, goddamn it! Don't fucking ignore me,
YOU MOTHERFUCKER! I MEAN IT!!! You come down here right now! Get down
here and talk to me, goddamn it!!! Fuck you!!! Goddamn you, come out
here! I'm gonna drive your fucking car through the living room!!!".
Ginger then get's out of the car and she falls down as she yells "You
fucking coward! You motherfucker, you! Come out here and talk to me, you
fucker!!!".
Sam finally and rather tentatively walks
out and he says to Ginger "Will you stop it?! You're drunk! You're on
drugs!" but Ginger screams "I am not!!" and Sam warns her "You're gonna
be sorry if you don't stop it! The whole neighborhood..." however
Ginger, absolutely livid screams "DON'T YOU THREATEN ME!!! DON'T YOU
THREATEN ME!!!! You are not threatening me anymore! You fuck! You fuck!
I'm sick of you! I AM fucking Nicky Santoro! I am! He's my new sponsor!
How about that, you fuckhead?!!".
However the police
then show up, responding to the disturbance and they ask what is going
on and Ginger tells them that she just wants to go inside to get a few
things as she has been wearing the same clothes for two days. So, as
the cops ask Sam if he can let her in, he responds "I'm afraid to let
her in the house!" prompting Ginger to furiously pick up some grass and
leaves from lawn and throw them at Sam "Fucker!! You ought to be afraid,
the way you fucking treat me!". Sam however reasons with the cops and
says to them "If she calms down, I will let her in for five minutes, if
you gentlemen escort her out, if she might not want to leave". So,
Ginger asks the cops "Can I go in?! Can I go in?!" and they yes and
Ginger says "Fine!" and as she brushes past Sam, she yells at him "Fuck
you!".
James Woods is also excellent in his role
as Lester Diamond, the sleazy pimp, who is Ginger's ex-boyfriend (and
pimp!) who Ginger can't seem to turn away from much to Sam's annoyance.
And
Woods has some good moments in the film but I will only mention two of
his scenes and they come one after the other where Ginger and Lester,
along with her daughter, Amy, go off to Beverly Hills together and Sam
soon finds out and talks to Lester on the phone.
So,
after Lester finishes talking to Sam, he goes over to Ginger and says to
her "He's got two million in the box, am I right? You let him keep your
jewels. We take the cash and the only other thing he cares about. Huh?"
and he indicates Amy and says "Her majesty. We go to Europe. You dye
your hair...". Amy interrupts Lester and says "I don't want to go to
Europe" and Lester says "We're going to Europe. Let the adults talk!"
and he continues to say to Ginger "You dye your hair. You get plastic
surgery like we talked about. You're the mother. How much you think
he'll pay to get this kid back?" Amy interrupts again and Lester finally
snaps and says "Shut your mouth!". Amy however simply says "YOU shut
up!" and Lester angrily says "You want me to come over there? I'll smack
your face! Don't give me your shit!" and to Ginger "This has always
been a dream, but now we're going".
Ginger however is
not impressed by Lester's delusions of grandeur as she knows Sam is onto
them and she says to Lester "Lester he called you here. He just called
you right here" and Lester says "I know, I just talked to him" and
Ginger, agitated, says "That means he's probably sending some guys over
here, right now". Lester however brushes off Ginger's concerns and says
"It means he's sitting by the phone, like a dumb bell...waiting for me
to call him back!". Ginger then snaps "He's sitting by the phone just
waiting for you to call! WHAT DO YOU THINK WE'RE GONNA DO?!! HE'S
PROBABLY GOT GUYS OUTSIDE THE FUCKING HOUSE!!!".
Then
in the next scene, Ginger get's off the phone with Nicky, who tells her
to stay put and keep calm and he will call her back in an hour. So,
after this Ginger goes back to the car, where Amy is winding up a riled
Lester, who angrily says to Ginger "You're not gonna drive! Don't even
think you're gonna drive. I'm gonna drive. I'm not gonna drive with some
crazy woman! Get on the passenger side! And I'm sending this kid to
Bolivia in a box!!".
Frank Vincent (who sadly
passed away last year) is also very good in his smaller role as Frankie
Marino (based on real life gangster Frank Cullotta) Nicky's right hand man and he too also previously appeared in
Goodfellas (as the gangster, Billy Batts).
So, I
will only mention of two of Frank's scenes for time (as this post is
long enough as it is!) starting with the scene where Frankie meets with
two Irana diamond merchants and they haggle over the price they will
take for diamonds that Nicky's crew had stolen.
So,
one of the Iranians says there are flaws in the diamond he is examining
and Frankie protests and tells him "You better clean your fuckin loupe
because there's now flaws in this diamond!" and Frankie states the
amount he wants "40,000 for the whole package". However the dealer then
suddenly says in English "20,000 and that's my final offer!" and
Frankie says to the other Iranian "All of a suddeny he talks English!
Let's talk Turkey here! How about 25,000???".
And
secondly there is the scene where Frankie meets with Nicky's boss, Remo
Gaggi (Pasquale Cajano) who is concerned that Nicky might be having an
affair with Ginger, so he asks Frankie if he has heard anything about
it.
So, Remo in the scene asks Frankie "The little
guy, he wouldn't be fucking the Jew's wife, would he? Cos if he
is...its a problem!". So, before Frankie answers, the screen freeze
frames and we hear for the first time Frankie narrate "What could I say?
I knew if I gave them the wrong answer, I mean, Nicky, Ginger, Ace -
all of them could have wound up getting killed. Because there's one
thing about these old timers: they don't like any fucking around with
the other guys' wives. It's bad for business. So I lied, even though I
knew that by lying to Gaggi, I could wind up getting killed too!".
And
it then unfreezes and Frankie says "No, I haven't seen anything like
that" and Remo asks "Are you sure?" and Frankie says "I'm positive.
Remo, things are very fucked up down there" and Remo says "I know,
that's why I'm asking" and Remo then tells him to keep an eye on Nicky
and finishes saying "Frankie, you're a good boy" and Frankie says
"Thanks, Remo".
WARNING: BIG SPOILER COMING UP!!!
And last of all is the film's most brutal scene where Nicky and his
brother, Dominic, meet with Frankie out in a cornfield where he and
Dominic are suddenly attacked and brutally beaten to a pulp by Frankie
and other men with baseball bats. And in the scene, Frankie beats Nicky
and shouts at him "Tough guy, huh?! You and you're fuckin brother! Well
NO MORE!! You fucking scumbag! Watch!!" and he proceeds to beat Dominic
brutally near to death and after they are done, Frankie says "OK, strip
him!" before he proceeds on to beat up Nicky.
Don Rickles, a well established American comedian, also puts in a
fine performance playing the straight man for once, as Billy Sherbert
the casino manager.
So, I will only mention two of his
scenes again starting with the one where Billy eyes one of the cheating
players at the casino having his winnings counted. So, Billy walks up
to him and smiles warmly and says "Hiya. That's a lot of money to be
counting out in public. Why don't I take him... over to the office and
verify it? A little privacy. And by the way... send over a nice bottle
of champagne on ice!". So, Billy offers his hand to the cheater and says
"By the way, I'm Billy Sherbert, the casino manager" and the cheater
says "I have a plane to catch to Cleveland. Can I get my winnings?" only
for him to be lead back to the basement room where he finds his
cheating partner with a broken hand and Sam to give him an ultimatum.
Then
there is the scene where, Billy is forced to call Sam when Nicky
unexpectedly turns up at the casino (after he has been banned from all
the casinos in Vegas due to his criminal activities). So, Billy says to
Sam on the phone, who is at home in bed "Sam we got a problem. The
little guy. Nobody told him he was eighty-sixed from the joint. We
turned our heads and made out we didn't know who he was. He's over at
the 21 table with his nose wide open. He took money out of his own kick.
His nose is open for about 10,000. Now he's really pissed!".
L.Q. Jones is
also very good in his role as County Commissioner, Pat Webb, who's
brother-in-law, Don Ward, was fired by Sam for his incompetence at the
casino.
And I will mention two of Jones's scenes
aswell, starting with his main one where Webb meets with Sam at the
casino and tries to smooth out what happened with Don. So, Webb says to
Sam "I come here personally to kind of smooth over...any fracas about a
certain matter. See, uh, maybe you didn't know it... but Don Ward is a
very well-liked man in this town. He's got lots of friends. Nice family
and their money go back many, many years. Now friends vote. Family and
money votes. That's important to me and you. And if you'll think about
our little problem along them lines...and you'll forgive me for sayin'
it...maybe he did not deserve to be fired".
Sam however
insists that Don is weak and incompetent and cannot be trusted to be
hired back to work at the casino and Webb even admits that Don is not
much use and he says "You got me there. Ol Don is as useless as tits on a
boar!". However after Sam refuses Webb's plea to hire Don back, even in
a lesser role, Webb warns Sam "Mr. Rothstein, your people never will
understand...the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But
you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You
ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the
governor. Thank you for your time". And Sam shakes Webb's hand at the
end and says "Sorry" and Webb looks at him and says "You bet!".
And
secondly there is the scene where Webb reads a newspaper headline
stating that Sam is the new boss at the Tangiers Casino. So, Webb asks
two gaming control board advisors of Sam "Has that man even filed for
his gaming licence yet??" and one of the advisors says "I don't know.
We'll need to check the files". So, Webb finishes by saying "Well,
without gettin your shorts in a knot, could you do that and check
closely. Cos, we may have to kick a kike's ass outta town".
Alan King also
is pretty good in his role as Andy Stone, head of the Teamsters pension
fund, who is respected figure but secretly is working with the Mafia
and he acts as a go-between the bosses and Sam.
I will
only mention one of King's scenes and its the one where Sam has a
private meeting with Andy after Remo advises Andy to tell Sam that maybe
he should quit his job at the casino.
So, as they
begin to chat, Sam says to Andy "First of all, what they did is totally
unconstitutional, we are already on the list for the supreme court..."
but Andy interrupts him angrily and says "These guys don't give a fuck
about the Supreme Court and all this bullshit! They want you to walk
away!". Sam however refuses to do so and says "Walk away?! How can I
walk away? Andy, do you realise how much is at stake?!". Andy then warns
Sam "The old man said maybe your friend should give in. When the old
man says "maybe," that's like a papal bull. Not only should you quit,
you should run!". Sam however suggests why doesn't Nicky take a break
and get out of Vegas for a while to let things blow over but Andy tells
him "They ain't sending Nicky nowhere" and then "I would forget about
the manouever. I would just get out!".
And last of all is Pasquale Cajano as
Remo Gaggi, who is also very good in his role as the aged yet very
powerful Chicago mob boss, who is in charge of Nicky and the others.
So,
I will mention just two of his scenes, starting with the one where Remo
meets with Frankie and voices his concern over the rumours of Nicky
sleeping with Ginger. So, in this scene Remo asks Frankie "Frankie, I
want to ask you something. It's private. But I want you to tell me the
truth" and Frankie says "I always tell you the truth, Remo". So, Remo
asks "Frankie... the little guy... he wouldn't be fucking the Jew's
wife, would he? Because if he is, it's a problem".
So,
Frankie narrates that if he admitted that Nicky was, it could end up
getting them all killed, so he lies to Remo and says no. Remo then asks
"Are you sure?" and Frankie says "I'm positive. Remo, things are very
fucked up down there" and Remo says "I know. That's why I'm asking.You
see, my main concern is Nicky. I want to know if he's doing all right,
if he's okay" and Frankie says "He's good, he's fine". And Remo says "I
want you to keep an eye on Nicky. Do it for me" and Frankie says "No
problem" and Remo says "I wouldn't want to be jeopardizing anything for
our friends. Understand?" and Frankie says "I understand" and Remo pats
Frankie's hand and says "Frankie, you're a good boy".
And
secondly there is the scene where the bosses all have a private meeting
in the back of the courthouse, whilst they are on trial, they decide
Andy Stone's fate. So, three of the four bosses say that Andy is OK and
he won't talk but one of them finally asks Remo and what he thinks and
Remo sighs and says "Look...why take a chance? At least that's the way I
feel about it".
Well, that's that MASSIVE section over with!
DIRECTOR
Ok, so FINALLY moving onto the director's paragraph, Martin Scorsese once
again does a terrific job here, as he really does manage to succeed in
making Casino feel like an epic film as it surely is that at almost
three hours in length (2 hours and 58 minutes to be exact!). And yeah OK there might be some slow scenes
here and there but for the most part, Scorsese does a great job with
pacing given the film's length. Scorsese also shot at the Riviera casino in Las Vegas at night time and used the defunct Landmark Hotel as the entrance to double as the Tangiers casino.
Scorsese also once
again show's his great technical skill as a filmmaker, which is seen in
scenes such as the one where Sam waits nervously out in the desert for
Nicky to meet with him and we see Nicky's car drive pass in Sam's
sunglasses. Then there are the scene where Scorsese neatly uses
dissolves to show the passing of time, such as where Sam and Andy Stone
have a private meeting in a car and also when Andy finishes his meeting
with Remo at one point outside Remo's car. And of course there is also
the scene where Nicky beats up on someone but he is burned out from
taking too much cocaine and it cuts to an extreme close up of cocaine
being sucked up through a straw.
So, overall the film is filled
with Scorsese's wonderful technical touches and it certainly stands as
one of his very best films.
SOUNDTRACK
Moving onto the music in Casino,
which again plays a integral part of the film, and Scorsese makes great
use of old classic tracks from bands such as The Rolling Stones "Can't
you hear me knocking?" Devo's "Whip it", Roxy Music "Music is the drug",
Fleetwood Mac "Go your own way" and "Toad by "Cream". Not to mention
one of my favourite tracks used in the film "Walk on the wild side" by
Jimmy Smith in the scene where Nicky murders the real-estate agent, Anna
Scott. And last of all of course is The
Animals "House of the Rising Sun", which acts perfectly as a moral
foreboding as the events of the film unravel in its climax.
FLAWS & HISTORICAL LICENCE
As for flaws...yes OK Casino still does have a few niggles here and there and given its based on true events even with different named charaters, its still has a few inaccuracies compared to real life, which are worth mentioning.
To
start off, I think a problem I had with the film was to do with the
melodrama of Sam and Ginger's marriage as there are times where it drags
the pace of the film down a little, not to mention the tensions between
them both regarding Lester Diamond, Ginger's former boyfriend and
pimp. Particularly the scene where Sam and Ginger get married and
Ginger after speaks on the phone to Lester and also where Ginger lies in
bed, wallowing in self pity after Sam has Lester beaten up. Both of
these scenes are a bit tedious for me personally and drag down the
pacing.
Another issue was to do with the whole idea of
Artie Piscano (who was based on real life Kansis City underboss, Carl
DeLuna) as an underboss for the Chicago mob as he is totally
incompetent and it begs the question: how in the hell did he end up
being promoted to being an underboss in the first place if he so
inept???!! I mean the guy basically messed up the whole operation for
everybody involved in the casino by blabbing about his troubles in
monitoring the bosses's casino skim (as the workers at the casino were
stealing) to his mother and brother while the FBI had tapped his store
and listened in on everything he said.
So, in the end
when the mob bosses get decide to whack anyone involved and who might
talk against them, it all (well in part anyway) boils down to their
incompetence in putting Artie in charge of ensuring nobody inteferred
with the skim in the first place! So, if they had put someone else in
his place more "capable" then just maybe this wouldn't have happened. In
the end, the mob bosses sunk themselves with their decision to put
Piscano in charge!
In reality however, DeLuna's home was raided by the FBI and they
discovered in his basement a number of cryptic notes that along with
wiretaps linked the Mafia to the illegal control of the casinos in Las
Vegas. DeLuna himself did not die of a heart attack in front of his wife
as Artie Piscano was depicted as doing but instead was sentenced to 20
years imprisonment and later died in 2008.
I
also found that Sam's love for Ginger was at times pretty blind to say
the least that he would even imagine that he could trust her, as he says
to her at one point in the film "I have to trust you with my life!".
Yet, Ginger is clearly a pretty sleazy, untrustworthy character as it
is, so how could Sam possibly expect to trust her int he first place?!
As the film progresses however, Sam quickly wisens up to the fact that
Ginger simply cannot be trusted.
In reality, Sam's real life figure Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal had married
Ginger's real life counterpart, Geri McGee, who was in actual fact a
cocktail waitress and showgirl and not a prostitute as depicted in the
film and her former partner was Lenny Marmor, whom she was previously
married to and he was not a pimp. Franky was also said to have beaten up
Geri on several occassions, which was not depicted in the film between
Sam and Ginger, so perhaps the reality was again very different in that
Geri may have been a more sympathetic figure in reality than Ginger was,
as she wanted to escape the controlling and volatile nature of her
husband in Franky.
Getting back to the film though there are also one or two unintentionally laughable
moments, such as the one where Ginger visits Nicky at his trailer and
the two of them discuss how Sam has changed. And as Ginger becomes
upset, Nicky comforts her and they soon begin to kiss and in a laughable
moment, Nicky pushes Ginger's head down to his lap, so she can blow
him. Its one of the rare silly, laughable moments in the film for me
personally.
Then there is the scene where Sam decides
to put himself on TV in an effort to strengthen his case to try and get a
second chance at a hearing to apply for his gaming licence. However
this is also a pretty silly scene and surely in the end, it won't really
make any difference as to him getting a chance to appeal his denied
request for a gaming licence. However at weird as it may seem, this was
in fact based on reality as Franky Rosenthal did indeed create his on TV
show to boost his profile and have a go at the gaming control board, which was called the The Frank Rosenthal Show. The show only lasted two episodes at the time and was cancelled but there was a brief spell after the film was released that saw it might be revived but it eventually didn't go through.
Another troublesome aspect of the film is the brutal scene where Nickie and his brother are beaten near to death and buried out in a cornfield, which is naturally pretty disturbing to watch. However, in reality, Spilotro and his brother's (Michael) death were not confirmed to have happened there but Michael's car was found abandoned at a model, suggesting they have been killed elsewhere.
Another thing that is also curious in the film is just how they never
once mention where all the characters come from, which the History
Buff's channel video on the film brought up as all they mention are the
words "back home" when it comes to their original location. However in
reality the Mafia crew and Franky all came from Chicago and the family
themselves were know as the "Outfit" but it seems strange that they
didn't want to even mention this in the film!
And finally there is that
moment where the FBI stop off their plane on Sam's private golf course,
as they have run out of fuel, surveilling Nicky and his crew as they
play golf. So, the FBI agents are seen running past Sam, who is having a
meeting with two gaming board associates. This is a pretty silly scene
in itself but it surprisingly enough did happen as agents were forced to
make an emergency landing but it was due to the plane having mechanical
issues and not fuel and it was even caught on the news at the time.
However,
to conclude regarding any inaccuracies, the film does acquit itself in a
way because at the start is states in the titles "This film is based on
true events" so its not actually saying it was a true story in itself
but to be fair, Casino is relatively accurate to the events that
happened during that time.
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So in summary, Casino still remains one of Martin Scorsese's finest
films and for me it is just pipped by Goodfellas out of Scorsese's two
Mafia dramas, but Casino to its credit does have bigger scope and is
more ambitious and it
succeeds on both those fronts. The film also has top performances from
its cast, particularly the three leads of Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and
Sharon Stone, as all three of them deliver exceptionally good
performances. Scorsese's direction is also top rate and he also again
makes great use of his soundtrack via a collection of music artists from
the 1950's, 60's and 70's.
And yeah OK there are some minor pacing issues here especially to do
with the awkward love triangle of Sam, Ginger and Lester, which initially is a bit tedious and the film to
a certain extent does take one or two liberties with the truth but
nothing too drastic overall as it does do a fairly good job at depicting
the true events of the time.
However all that aside, this is still a great film that warrants repeated viewings and is almost on equal footing to Goodfellas with only a few scenes slowing it down and dragging slightly down just a bit below its level.
So, I will rate Casino:
9.5 out of 10
So, that's it for now and I will be back with another post before the end of the month.
Until then its bye for now!
