While there have been plenty of movies set in Las Vegas, few have captured its actual history quite like Casino. Martin Scorsese didn’t shy away from showing the seedy underbelly of Sin City, which is a theme that runs through this movie about mobster Sam Rothstein (De Niro) and his struggle to keep control of a casino in a town built on vice. This movie is about gambling, murder, and everything in between as these characters and their associates run headlong into a slow road to destruction.
Unlike Goodfellas, which focused more on the slice of life aspects of the mafia world, Casino is much more focused on the human tragedy that plays out in this story. This is because the events in this movie are directly correlated to the decisions that these characters make, so when they do meet their demise it feels very much like their own fault and not something that just happens to them. The fact that the film also moves quickly from one event to the next makes it feel more active and alive, instead of a series of things that just happen.
Casino opens with a lot of fast cuts and stylized documentary-like footage to give the viewer a behind-the-scenes look at how a typical casino works. This style continues throughout the film, but as the story progresses Scorsese gradually lessens the narration while adding more of a narrative that tells the story of these characters and how their lives change over time.
As with most casinos, heavy drinking is a major component of the atmosphere. Alcohol is served nonstop to patrons at card tables, in front of slot machines, and even to those watching horse racing on TV. This is because booze lowers inhibitions and clouds judgment, both of which are important to gamblers looking to place bets that will lead to large profits. The casino floor itself is often designed to be a maze, as well, so that players can get lost and not know exactly where they are going or where the exits are.
To avoid cheating, casinos use a number of methods, including hiring dealers who have been trained to watch for any suspicious activity and installing “eye-in-the-sky” cameras that monitor the entire gambling floor from the ceilings. Newer casinos track betting by using chips that are RFID-tagged and alert security when they have been moved from the place where they were supposed to be.
Most of the movie focuses on Sam’s struggles to keep control of the casino and his relationships with his friends and associates, most notably his wife Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone). The movie tries to add a little bit more depth to this dynamic by taking the pair out into the deserts and apartments where they live but it ultimately fails to add any real insight or characterization beyond the old-fashioned gangster-and-his-moll motif. The result is that it begins to drag towards the middle of the movie as it plods along.