Martin Scorsese’s epic Casino, released in theaters on Nov. 22, 1995, is a sprawling, dazzling, and brutal chronicle of ambition, greed, and eventual decay in 1970s and 80s Las Vegas. Serving as the director’s definitive statement on the city’s complex, mob-controlled past, the film plunges the audience into the inner workings of a major casino where the dazzling veneer of high-roller glamour barely masks the ruthless violence beneath.
The story is narrated by its two central figures: Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro) and Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci).
Ace is the smooth, methodical professional—a brilliant sports handicapper tapped by the Mob to run the massive Tangiers Casino. He is the brains, determined to maintain control and profit with icy efficiency, relying on his connections to the higher-ups, including Frank Vincent (as the local muscle) and Alan King (as a high-ranking boss).
In sharp contrast is Santoro, Ace’s childhood friend and muscle, a volatile, uncontrollable gangster whose penchant for ultra-violence threatens to expose the entire operation.
Ace’s carefully managed life begins to unravel when he falls obsessively in love with Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone), a beautiful, high-end hustler.
Stone delivers a career-defining, Oscar-nominated performance as a woman simultaneously drawn to Ace’s wealth and repelled by his control, struggling with drug abuse and an unbreakable tie to her former pimp, Lester Diamond (James Woods).
The tensions among these three—the professional, the psycho, and the hustler—form the explosive core of the film.
The cast of supporting characters illustrates the full spectrum of Vegas power.
Kevin Pollak plays the lawyer trying to keep the skimming operation legal, while Don Rickles, as the casino manager, provides cynical comic relief.
L. Q. Jones appears as Clark County Commission chairman Pat Webb
Dick Smothers also appears as a regulatory figure, highlighting the government’s futile attempts to monitor the corruption.
John Bloom, Richard Riehle and Paul Herman round out the cast.
Cameos include Oscar Goodman, Steve Allen, Frankie Avalon and Jayne Meadows.
Casino is based on New York crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi‘s book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas. Pileggi also co-wrote Goodfellas with Scorsese.
The film originally received an NC-17 rating due to its depictions of violence, but following several edits, an appeal was made and granted in order to reduce the rating to R.
Stone won Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama at the Golden Globes.
Sharon Stone and Robert De Niro in Casino (Photo/Universal Pictures)
Reception for Casino
Casino grossed $9.9 million on its opening weekend, finishing fifth at the box office.
The film would gross $69 million worldwide.
Roger Ebert gave Casino four out of four stars in his review.
Lasting Legacy
The legacy of Casino rests on its operatic visual style, its extensive use of voice-over narration, and its epic scale and it stands as a cautionary tale of American excess, brilliantly documenting the final, spectacular years when organized crime held sway over the city before corporate interests took over.
Scorsese delivers an unforgettable, unsparing portrait of paradise lost to betrayal and insatiable greed.
