Somehow i’d managed not to see Casino when it originally came out. I went through Universal HD (hdtv channel on local cable) a few weeks ago and marked a couple of movies to record and it was one of them. I’m definitely a fan of HDTV movies, they easily blow away DVD’s even on my (non-HDTV) high end tv. At any rate, the move was pretty dark, being directed by Martin Scorsese that’s not too surprising. It kinda had a 1970′s Taxi Driver feel to it. The acting was pretty amazing, the three main characters were done so well that i completely forgot who they were (in real life.)
Joe Pesci gave a performance that was probably only second to his work in the great film With Honors. His character (Nicky Santoro) was viscous and despicable, but for some reason i still managed to identify with him up till the closing moments of the movie.
Sharon Stone did an excellent job of falling apart in a horrifying and disgusting manner enough so that you felt sorry for Ace. She’s plays Ginger who’s out to take care of herself using all means at her disposal.
Robert De Niro as Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein plays a bookie turned casino manager who falls completely for Ginger who seems to feel mild liking towards him. De Niro’s performance is very good, up to his usual standard, but nothing stellar, for him. Ace and Nicky are childhood friends and the vicious Nicky has protected Ace in the past at the direction of their mutual bosses. Ace is chosen to run the Tangers on the behalf of the mob bosses and seems to be perfectly made for the job. Everything is going great for him until Nicky decides to come out to Vegas and Ginger begins her downward spiral. It’s really hard to blame either Nicky or Ginger singly as they both seem to haplessly start things in motion by being themselves.
There are quite a few other big names in the movie, none of which really deserve mention next to the above three, not so much because of their performance, but due to the main three’s outstanding jobs and characters. All in all this movie is ok though, despite the stellar performances the story just doesn’t really do that much for me. It’s probably a see it at the dollar movie or rent it.