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Casino - 10th
Anniversary Edition
Rating:
R
Distributor:
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release
Date: June 14, 2005
Review posted: June 28, 2005
Reviewed by
Greg Malmborg
SYNOPSIS
Working again
with writer Nicholas Pileggi (they collaborated on Goodfellas),
Martin Scorsese chronicles the heightened excess and imminent
downfall of the 70s mob controlled
Las Vegas
through the lives of three very interesting and self-destructive
characters. Casino focuses on mobster Sam “Ace” Rothstein
(Robert De Niro), a man who has risen through the mob ranks based
on his amazing gambling abilities. Ace sees all the angles and
can pick winners like no one else. This talent mixed with his
rigid, acute business sense and personal ambition, made him the
perfect choice to go out to Vegas and run a casino operation (the
Tangiers Hotel and Casino) for the mob bosses.
Ace is immediately
successful, doubling the mob bosses money and running the casino like
a well-oiled machine. Everyone is watched, no one is able to cheat
the house, and everyone will walk away with his or her pockets at
least a little bit lighter. Not only does Ace impress his mob
cohorts, but he also begins to rise in the social scene in Vegas,
commiserating with a variety of politicians and celebrities.
Everything is going just right, money is flowing and the bosses are
happy. Then, an old friend and a new love come into his life and ruin
it all.
Ace’s old friend
Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), a sociopath gangster bent on power and
greed, decides to move to Vegas after seeing how well Ace has done (to
Ace’s dismay) and he quickly makes his presence known throughout the
town. It isn’t long before Nicky is as well known and feared as the
most notorious of all gangsters. The connection between him and Ace
is causing some serious problems for Ace, who is trying to run his
casino straight and calm any speculation on his mob ties and sordid
past. It’s during this time when Ace also meets (and falls
immediately head over heels for) Ginger (Sharon Stone), a high class
Vegas call girl with even more ambition and drive (for money that is)
than Ace.
Ginger and Ace’s
relationship starts off as more of a business deal than love, and
Ginger’s emotional connection to her old pimp Lester Diamond (James
Woods), her incessant need for more and more money, and her increasing
drug and alcohol dependency threaten to bring down all Ace has worked
for. Ace’s unflinching trust in Ginger begins to destroy him. This,
in combination with Nicky’s brutal and increasingly well known
tactics, not only threaten Ace’s life and work, but also threaten to
take away the once solid mob control of the gambling industry in
Las Vegas.
Las Vegas
in the 70s was the last frontier for the mob, like the Wild West, and
they pioneered and plundered it for all its riches. Scorsese
fashioned the film as a western of sorts, one built on excess off this
unremitting greed. Casino is epic in scope and plot yet it’s
truly a film about three characters on a disastrous downward spiral
caused from their own personal flaws and relentless need for more and
more.
CRITIQUE
Casino
was not an
overwhelming success in its initial release, mostly due to the release
being so close to Scorsese’s Goodfellas and how similar the two
are. Goodfellas was such a huge success that many were hoping
for something different or more. Well, now that ten years have passed
since its original release, this film can finally be recognized for
what it is, an absolute masterpiece from a filmmaker working in his
prime territory. No one has done the mob like Scorsese, he is the
undisputed king of mob films, and Casino is his most fluid,
engaging, artistic and best-acted mob film.
Casino
is so brilliantly filmed and acted, you could watch it over and over
again and never tire of it. The film has one of the best film actors
of all time and one of the best directors of all time at their peaks,
not many films can boast that. Add in the amazingly fluid and
dialogue-heavy script, two award worthy supporting performances, an
amazing supporting cast, and terrifically lush and beautiful
cinematography, and its hard to find fault.
Martin Scorsese has
never used his camera so ambitiously and so actively, as he does in
Casino. He creates an environment of constant movement and energy
through exciting camera positions and angles, different POVs,
lingering close-ups, quick cuts and more, and he manages to keep the
viewer not only perfectly engaged in the story but also mesmerized
with the artistry. There is not a dull or lifeless moment throughout
the three-hour running time. The rich texture and amazing direction
build up energy and yet never take away from the story. The
cinematography from Robert Richard is incredibly lush and meticulous.
The film could be still-framed at almost any spot and put into a
picture frame. This is one of Scorsese’s most beautiful and colorful
films.
The script is based
off the book from Nicholas Pileggi, which interestingly had only been
in draft form when Scorsese and he began collaborating on the film.
The story and dialogue is exceptionally well written, interesting and
engaging. These two guys not only know the mob, but they did their
research on the inner workings of a casino and it shows. One of the
most interesting aspects of the script is the way it details out the
casino: the way they fought off cheaters, how everyone is watching
everyone, the skimming of the winnings that went to the bosses, the
treatment of high rollers, and how they managed to hit on almost every
position and aspect of a casino while still telling a very personal
character-driven story.
The direction,
cinematography and script are all elevated to perfection by the
amazing cast. Led by one of the best actors alive, Robert De Niro,
who anchors the film with his straight shooting, hard working demeanor
mixed with an air of possessiveness and fragility. Ace is the rooting
interest in the story as everything comes crumbling down around him
and it takes an actor like De Niro to make a guy with so many inherent
flaws so likeable. This is a role that isn’t as talked about as it
should have been for De Niro (he should have been in the Best Actor
running too), maybe not his best but it is one of his most solid and
formidable. He is surrounded by two other great performances in the
film from Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone.
Pesci got rave
reviews for this role but most mentioned that it was too much like his
Goodfellas role. There are definitely similarities but Nicky
is much more fleshed out and interesting for me. He was able to make
this character a walking time bomb, a frightening madman ready to blow
up at anything and anyone but with a sense of friendship and a hint of
vulnerability. The first time you watch the film, you have no idea
what to expect next from Nicky. His presence alone is disturbing and
it creates a unique, unhinged atmosphere every time he’s on screen.
This is my favorite Joe Pesci performances; one that I feel tops his
award-winning Goodfellas one. And even better than both De
Niro and Pesci (this is really saying something) is Sharon
Stone in her best performance ever (by far, by miles). She just nails
everything about this character. From her mesmerizing entrance to the
use of her natural charm and beauty to get what she wants to her
descent into booze and drugs, Stone is just perfect. She deserved
every accolade she got, especially her Academy Award nomination (but
she definitely should have won). The rest of the cast is also
terrific; especially Don Rickles as the Casino Manager at the Tangiers
who is basically Ace’s right hand man always there to back him up.
The always great James Woods is also perfectly cast as the sleazy
pimp, bringing just the right attitude and look to the character.
THE VIDEO
The all new
digitally remastered transfer presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic
Widescreen for this 10th Anniversary disc is exceptional.
The lush, vivid colors just jump out of every frame and everything has
been meticulously cleaned up and polished. The film looks absolutely
dazzling.
THE AUDIO
Universal presents
Casino in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and the audio is
simply extraordinary. Even though the film is blanketed in music and
sound (there is plentiful background noise, as this is Vegas), each
line of dialogue is crystal clear and sharp. The score sounds
terrific and the surround sound is active and dynamic. This is a
great audio presentation.
THE EXTRAS
Deleted Scenes –
These are really just extended scenes that go a little bit more into
delivering upon Scorsese’s themes in the film. They actually do add a
bit more as far as thematically, but with the running time over 3
hours Scorsese had to obviously make some tough decisions. Again,
each of these scenes is filmed brilliantly and the acting is top
notch. There is also a funny outtake with Scorsese’s mom yelling at
him after he swears on set.
Casino:
The Story
- This featurette takes you through the initial idea of the film and
how it all came about, through interviews and discussions with the
writer and director. Nicholas Pileggi had an idea for a new book and
after telling it to Scorsese, who was looking for his next film to
make and owed a picture to Universal, they decided to make it a film
and a book at the same time. Pileggi finished the book during filming
and Scorsese and him both wrote pieces of the script. An interesting
side note is that Scorsese almost filmed Clockers instead of
this, before passing it over to Spike Lee.
Casino:
The Cast and Characters
– This is a terrific featurette with interviews from the cast and crew
going into details on the casting choices and how the cast examined
and prepared for their respective characters. De Niro discusses who
his character was based on (Frank ‘Lefty’ Rosenthal) and details his
frank discussions with the ex-mob man. Stone cries over how she
almost passed on this one and what an amazing experience it all was
for her. This is a very informative and focused featurette (this
extra and most of the others really concentrate on explaining the
whole moviemaking process).
Casino:
The Look
– This is really an in depth look into cinematographer Robert
Richardson and production designer Dante Ferretti and what they
brought to the production. It goes into what is required to achieve
the certain look that Scorsese wanted and how they worked to put it
all together. It also goes into the costumes a bit with costume
designer Rita Ryack, and how could it not, I mean De Niro must have
worn over 50 pastel colored suits and outfits throughout the film.
This is more of an extra for the hardcore film buffs, but it is
definitely worth a look. Considering I just happen to be a film buff,
I found this to be a very informative and fascinating extra.
Casino:
After the Filming
– This is the best extra of them all, giving you a backstage pass to
watch Scorsese put his film together after all of the raw footage had
been shot. You see him struggle to have consistent theme, what scenes
to cut, where and what music to add, and basically work like a madman
to make this beautiful, engrossing film come alive with his amazing
abilities as a director.
Vegas and the Mob
– A straightforward, narrated (by some annoying guy) documentary
tracing the lineage of the mob in Vegas. The information contained in
the documentary is interesting as it makes a nice addition to the film
as a whole in understanding the history, but the presentation isn’t
great.
True Crime Authors:
Casino with Nicholas Pileggi
– This is an interesting extra that really makes the film that much
more of a rich and full experience. This is a History Channel
presentation focusing on how Pileggi came to write about the mob and
where this idea for Casino came from. It looks at the real
life history of the film’s story, told with re-enactments and
interviews, as well as how and why Scorsese became attached to the
project and what interested him in the story.
Commentary with
Martin Scorsese, Sharon Stone, Nicholas Pileggi and more
– This was the one and only disappointment in the package. I thought
this would be an updated commentary track with Scorsese (who is such a
joy to listen to waxing on about movies) and the amazing cast, but
this is really just a mix of old interviews from various production
members, Stone, and Scorsese. Most of the subjects and items they
discuss here are mentioned and discussed in the previous extras.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Casino
is a masterpiece; Scorsese directs the film beautifully, making it a
very visceral experience and yet never taking anything away from the
engaging and interesting story on the rise and fall of mob controlled
Las Vegas through three engaging and self-destructing characters. The
film is anchored with a brilliant performance from Robert De Niro and
there are two simply incredible supporting performances from Joe Pesci
and Sharon Stone. The film is finally getting its due with this great
10th Anniversary DVD edition.
VERDICT: A MUST
HAVE
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