After the success of Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese went deeper into Mafia history with Casino. Adapted from the book by Nicholas Pileggi, it’s a fascinating look at how the mob skimmed millions off Las Vegas casinos and allowed people like Ace and Ginger to rise up through the ranks until they were finally spat out by a town that was too corrupt to tolerate their shady dealings.
While the violence in the film is over-the-top — including a car bomb, a gunfight, and the murder of Joe Pesci’s character while he was being buried alive in a cornfield — it never becomes boring or gratuitous. That’s partly because the cast is so strong, with Robert De Niro as gangster Sam Rothstein delivering a career-defining performance that’s both charismatic and frightening. Sharon Stone is the movie’s heart, however, bringing her signature amoral seduction to the role of blonde hustler Ginger McKenna.
It’s also because the director uses cinematographer Robert Richardson to create a dazzling series of bravura set pieces that capture the sheer opulence of the casinos and their surroundings. But the movie’s sensibility is less exuberant than rueful and carefully attuned to institutional systems of grift.
A casino’s reputation among its players is very important, and it’s not enough to have the most popular games. The quality of customer support is another crucial factor, and this can be measured by the number of different contact points the casino offers, how quickly customers get a response, and whether they can reach out at any time of day or night.