Casino Review
A casino is a gambling establishment which offers players the opportunity to gamble. It may also offer other entertainment activities, such as shows or sports events. A casino may be operated by a single company or it may be part of a larger hotel complex. In many countries, casinos are licensed and regulated by the state in which they operate. This ensures that the casinos provide a high level of service and safety for their patrons.
The movie Casino is the work of master filmmaker Martin Scorsese dialing up Goodfellas to 11. It is a raw and unbridled jolt of cinema that is utterly enthralling and, surprisingly, never bogs down or runs out of steam. The movie is powered by the brilliant performances of its leads, especially that of Sharon Stone who makes her career-defining turn as Ginger.
One of the key themes in Casino is the nature of money and power. The mob is able to pull in millions and billions of dollars and yet it can be spit out just as fast by a massive corporation that runs the city of Vegas. It’s a theme that runs through all of Scorsese’s mafia films but it is particularly sharp in Casino.
The movie is brutal at times and the violence – including scenes of a man being tortured with a vice, the murder of De Niro’s character by a car bomb and the buried alive Joe Pesci character – is shocking. But the violence is not used for style or shock value – these things actually happened to the characters in the movie.