Casino (1995)

A hangout movie with billionaire casino gangsters. Three hours flew by.

I’m always mixed on Scorsese’s crime films. I admire Goodfellas more than I love it - it’s certainly not one of my favorite films of all time, though I respect it and this whole period of his work. Casino does feel derivative of the mode he keeps returning to - Goodfellas, The Irishman, The Departed. He loves exploring these worlds, these men, this inevitable decay. Makes sense.

I had such a huge crush on Sharon Stone in the 90s, and watching this - damn, she’s so fine. But beyond that, she gives a performance of a woman melting down that’s up there with any of the male leads in Scorsese’s entire oeuvre. She’s incredible.

At the time of writing this, I’m actively going through a breakup, and I have to say - some of the scenes of De Niro and Stone’s slow meltdowns, their reconciliations that don’t take, the fights that go nowhere - it all felt painfully familiar. But ultimately cathartic for me right now. I don’t know what that says about me, but it worked.

This is an absolutely beautiful film. It feels like an expensive movie from the 1940s about the glitz and glam of 1960s Las Vegas. Incredible wardrobes, incredible sets, awesome explosions, super violent. Scorsese spending money and making it look good.

I was ultimately charmed. I don’t know if I’ll revisit it anytime soon, but I do see why Scorsese came back with The Irishman. Casino doesn’t really have an ending - it just stops. The Irishman feels like him finally exploring the ultimate end goal of a life of crime to its logical conclusion. I kind of wish this movie had that.

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