Casino (Movie Review)

Few movies capture the essence of Las Vegas as well as Casino. While other films only skim the surface, showing opulence, neon signs, and people having fun at cards and slots, this movie digs deep into the city’s origins and its past ties with organized crime. It also takes a realistic approach to gambling, not letting the audience forget that casinos are businesses and not charitable organizations giving away free money. The more you gamble, the more likely it is that you will lose, even if you’re ahead in the short run. Casinos are designed with this in mind, lacking clocks and windows to keep players unaware of time and specializing in free drinks that will inebriate them enough to make bad judgment calls at the tables.

Casino is also one of Scorsese’s most violent movies, but not for shock value or style. The violence is meant to reflect the true nature of gambling, as it’s a vicious, greedy business that can destroy lives in an instant. Even with that in mind, this movie is hard to watch at times. Not just because of the violence – like when De Niro tortures a man with a vice, or when his mobster associate is murdered by airborne feds – but because it’s so convincing and touching a depiction of human tragedy. This is a film that proves that Scorsese has the ability to convey a sense of real-life tragedy without sacrificing the energy and pacing that made his name famous.