Martin Scorsese is the esteemed director from the old school of Hollywood who places a lot of emphasis on the ambience and on the threads of dread and conflicting emotions which run through his tales of passion, ambition, angst and guilt. Casino is the perfect example of his nuanced storytelling which has as its centrepiece the setting - this time the Las Vegas casinos of the seventies. This is contemporary American history typified.
This is an innate understanding of the shady world of gambling and all the wheeling-dealing that prospers in reckless abandon and convenient twists and turns given to the arms of law. It is a longish film, indulgent at times(however it never weighs too heavy on the viewer, however remote he/she might be to the situational complications of the bygone era, in a distant paradise), but it has its focus on the three main protagonists(played by Rober DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone) and the secondary characters all about them(above, below, and sideways!) whose complexities are captured bang-on.
Along with other classics of Scorsese(like Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, The Departed, Goodfellas, Age of Innocence etc), Casino is definitely a must-see film. It has awesome performances(except Sharon Stone, who at times seems too incompetent for the role) by the members of the cast, excellent cinematography, qualitative editing and a robust musical soundtrack.
The film is based on a real story(though the cracters and names have been conveniently fictionalised), and is quite an eye-opener for those presently frequenting the Las Vegas casinos in all its Disneyland like splendour, they will get to know what Running Out Of Luck was like in those Days of Glory(!) in the SinCity.
I was compelled to write this review, in spite of being somewhat incompetent to evaluate the Oscar-winning director’s work, because the only other review on MouthShut(till date) is nothing short of a hack-job. I would earnestly recommend all readers(who love serious cinema) to watch this classic for themselves and say if I am wrong(or biased).