Casino (1995)

Premise: When I tried to watch this movie on IFC one night, the guide's description said "Two men turn a casino into an empire." Not quite, IFC or StarChoice people. Two New York men seek to turn a Las Vegas casino into an empire, but they approach it from very different angles. Sam 'Ace' Rothstein (Robert DeNiro) is trying to go legit while Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) is out to steal all he can. Throw in Ginger (Sharon Stone), a hustler who becomes Sam's trophy wife, and you know you're in for trouble.

The really, really good kind of trouble. The kind where you only stop yourself from focusing on the film long enough to comment on how good it is. Unfortunately, everyone and their brother kept trying to ruin it for Princess Conseula and I.

You can see how it might be difficult for us to scrape together 178 minutes, right?

Martin, oh Martin, why do they all have to be so long? I'll never understand that part. I can handle it when you have such a beautifully crafter piece as this one, but I am not among the majority. Hitch always said that the length of a film should be directly proportional to the size of the human bladder.

On the other hand, when was the last time you watch a grand casino epic? I'm thinking never.

This isn't one of Martin's most celebrated movies, but we all know that the Academy has never cared for him. Fools. Still, I found it to be one of the most affecting I have seen. Martin pushed Stone to heights previously unknown, as well as depths. I've always thought she was a hottie, but I never knew she had this in her. Stone's Ginger is strong and stupid, brave and disloyal. It was one of the whirlwind performances where the actress throws herself in head first. Martin was there to catch her.

But Martin and Nicholas Pileggi's screenplay, while elegant, did function as well as a net. I never fully understood why Ginger acted the way she did. I mean, I sort of did, and it wasn't enough. Pileggi also wrote the book, and it is adapted from a true story. Without giving too much away, only one of the three survive, so they'd be the only source on the whole affair, right? Which means that they'd really only have their insight into the story.

Martin and Pileggi did make narration work, even for me. Ace and Nicky had such different interpretations of events that you wanted to hear what each of them would say about what happened over the ten years. You wanted to know what their spin on it would be.

I loved Pesci in this role. I loved to think of him as Brooklyn, so that part was no surprise. What was surprising was what a great villain he made. He put a man's head in a vice, and I still didn't want anything bad to happen to him. It wasn't reserved, but it was glorious.

DeNiro, on the other hand, was cool as a cucumber. Or as cold as ice. Basically, Ace was a calculating iceberg, but he still broke your heart with his love for Ginger. He was one of those mostly easy going men that you would never want to see get angry. When you do, you know someone's gonna get it.

Martin Scorcese, in case you were wondering. We're on a first name basis now. I've decided.

In the end, while long and incredibly difficult to watch it my home, Casino was powerful, messy, and violent. I loved it. A

Happy Anniversary, Feria Films! I was going to review my favourite movie of all time on such a special day, but it has yet to arrive from Zip. It will have to wait.

The first anniversary is paper, so be sure to send a card, cash, or a book. You know, whatever you have.