Casino (1995)
Director: Martin Scorsese
This film embodied everything I enjoy in a good film: crime, deception, sex, greed, and power. Marty is one of my favorite film directors and with this film he did a remarkable job detailing deeply flawed characters. Marty’s mostly famous for making characters that are either mentally disturbed or mobsters but this film intertwined those characters extremely well. Sam Rothstein played by Robert De Niro was one of the best characters I’ve ever seen on film because he displayed not the “typical” mobster. Sam’s character realized he was living a corrupt lifestyle that could only lead him facing an empty coffin one day but he settled for it. Never once did he break a sweat about anything nor did anything make him paranoid. One of the elements of film I despise is voiceovers. It’s like a mosquito nagging you at a barbecue. The voiceover worked in this case when Sam talked about how the mob wisely skimmed millions and millions of dollars from casinos. The audience was given access into the underground world of one of the biggest money schemes to be pulled. Marty created a fascinating experience for the audience with his roaming camera. It was made in a documentary style that enhanced the film to filmmaking brilliance.
I believe the film also gave the audience an inside look on how people in casinos find ways to cheat and steal from casinos. I hate to say it, not really but I find it AMAZING. I never thought people could be that clever to steal money let alone from a casino. Marty showed the world a woman that knew had to royally screw a man out of his money (no pun intended) when it came to Ginger McKenna. Ginger was a mixture of a femme fatale and golddigger. Ginger took advantage of men and preyed on their weaknesses to get what she wanted, a luxurious lifestyle and the key to never working another day in her life. On the flip side, Ginger was a pitiful drug addict and had a pimp. She allowed some miserable piece of crap (Lester Diamond played by James Woods) own her. I would’ve liked to see Ginger overcome her demons and not let drugs get the best of her but I assume Marty was trying to send a message to women. You may have all of the diamonds in the world, men at your feet, and money on top of money but when you take all of that way what can lie within is a disgusting human being. Materialism can kill the most beautiful.
Two words: Joe Pesci. As usual he puts on a profound performance as Nicky Santoro, the fast talking little man couldn’t be a better sidekick to Sam. Nicky’s voiceover in the film gave me a different perspective of how they got away with stealing millions and how it affected his life. The three strongest attributes to this story was the characters, filmmaking, and the storytelling. Some films can’t balance these elements too well and I applaud Marty for making another outstanding mob film. The characters had flaws that either died with them or didn’t really change. I loved the fact that Sam’s character was FORCED to change rather than him DECIDING to change. When Sam’s life was threatened with his car getting bombed, he knew that his connections had to change and he had to pay closer attention to the company he kept. Sam still worked in the casino business but he had to go legit or else he would’ve ended up dead. Ginger’s fate lied with drugs and it was foreshadowed throughout the entire film that she would amount to nothing. Ginger reminded me of the most popular girl in high school growing up to be a drug infested hasbeen that used sex to get what you want. Sex can backfire….sometimes. Nicky Santoro knew his lying and betrayal would eventually bite him in the butt one day. Nicky screws Ginger knowing that’s Sam’s wife and then decided to take sides with her, knowing she was off her rocker.
The filmmaking exhibited this documentary like style for directing that made the story seem like the characters were giving us their exclusive peek into the How to Steal Millions from
- Amber
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