Casino is a 1995 crime drama about a mafia enforcer and a casino executive who compete against each other over a gambling empire, and over a fast living and fast loving socialite.
In 1995, while Martin Scorsese‘s 1990 landmark mafia film Goodfellas was still topping greatest mob movies of all time, the legendary director took to the blackboard one more time and set about on another mobster flick that brought together several names from the first. Robert De Niro stars as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a mob man in 1973 who heads to Las Vegas to run the Tangiers Casino on behalf of the Chicago Outfit, a powerful mafia family with a long reach. After doubling profits, enforcer Nicholas “Nicky” Santoro (Joe Pesci) is sent to offer protection, but his malicious methods get him in serious trouble, causing a rift between him and Sam. Meanwhile, Sam falls for Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone), a hustler and former prostitute, which only stirs up more problems. Incredibly violent – sometimes hard to watch – the film earned high praise for its direction and performances, including Stone who earned an Oscar nomination. While it continues to live in the enormous shadow of Goodfellas, this is nonetheless a film that stands well on its own as one of the best in the genre.
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