Casino (1995) [Blog]
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Released November 22, 1995
IMDb
Just some random thoughts on a movie I’ve seen.
The next scene that I’m doing for my acting class is a brief scene from Casino, where Ginger asks “Ace” (her husband, played by me) for $25k and refuses to tell him why, causing Ace to start fighting with her and prod her about why she needs the money.
I was surprised to see how brief and somewhat low-key the scene was, so I’m planning to up the energy for the scene read in time for the class.
Anyway, overall, what did I think of the movie?
Eh.
I love me a good Scorsese film as much as the next guy, but I wouldn’t be the first to say that his movies can feel overly long and bloated sometimes. A quarter of the scenes could have probably been cut and we would have gotten the general idea, especially towards the beginning where it takes its sweet time setting things up, building up the atmosphere and tension.
Pesci has an incredible ability to keep you anxious and tense whenever he’s around, not just in this movie but in pretty much every movie he’s in, and it’s a joy to watch every time. You never know what he’s going to do in the moment, whether he’s just sitting at a table eating dinner with his friends or in the middle of a heated conversation. Every time he’s on screen, I just expect him to whip out a knife or gun and mess up whoever he’s talking to.
De Niro does a great job being an intimidating presence that demands respect. There’s a little bit of neurotic Jew in the performance (Sam “Ace” Rothstein is based on Frank Rosenthal), with him constantly looking out for the small details while running the Casino,
Sharon Stone is usually the actress mentioned when talking about this movie, and she was nominated for an Oscar for this performance. I don’t really have much to say about it, unfortunately. It’s a great performance, I really believe she’s a coked-up junkie trying to hustle everything in her life, and Stone really goes for it with her energy. So, yeah, it’s a woman in a Scorsese film. Maybe if I rewatched it or sifted through my thoughts I’d have more to say, but overall, a good performance and well worth an Oscar nomination.
Overall, it’s a competent movie. Probably in the middle pack of Scorsese films I’ve watched, and I need to watch way more. Wolf of Wallstreet and The Departed are probably among my favorites of his, I should probably rewatch them and see if they hold up.