Casino is one of Martin Scorsese’s most ambitious movies, yet he manages to keep it lean and compelling all the way through. It is a story of mob corruption and organized crime, but it also tells the fascinating history of Vegas. It is a film that illustrates how huge gambling corporations replaced the mafia in the city once known as Sin City.
Casino has everything you would expect from a movie set in Sin City: it’s violent, it’s raucous, and it is riveting. Robert De Niro is fantastic as the swaggering Ace Ventura, and Sharon Stone adds to the tension with her sultry Ginger McKenna. Joe Pesci rounds out the cast with his terrifying, threatening Santoro.
From the moment you walk into a casino, the experience is designed to get you to press your luck. Bright lights and sounds blare, and curving paths lead you past more gaming tables and machines. Bathrooms are hidden away, forcing you to walk further into the establishment and past more chances to bet on your luck. And when someone wins on a machine, cheers rise, and it creates the false sense of possibility that you might just be lucky enough to hit it big yourself.
Every game gives a casino a mathematical expectation of winning, and it is very rare for a casino to lose money on its games in a single day. That virtual assurance of gross profit allows casinos to offer their big bettors extravagant inducements such as free spectacular entertainment, luxury accommodations, transportation and reduced-fare hotel rooms.
