Seeing the film’s two wildcard characters cross paths is gripping, providing an in-depth and no-holds-barred look into this brutal world. Like many Scorsese films, Casino is undoubtedly dialogue-heavy, but the dialogue is so well-written that it manages to keep the audience engaged even in slower periods. That said, the writing is good enough to get a pass, with the director combining with Nicholas Pileggi - author of the book that inspired the film - to create a script that is, at times, genius. At almost three hours, Scorsese drags out this story a little longer than is necessary, with certain scenes of gratuitous violence feeling slightly too, well, gratuitous. Unlike Goodfellas, though, Casino’s pacing feels slightly off. Like Goodfellas, this is based on some semblance of a true story - taking inspiration from the life of Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, who ran casinos for the Chicago mob in the 1970s and 80s. As Nicky becomes more powerful and more aggressive, Ace tries to wrestle back control - inevitably leading to bloodshed, extortion and adultery. Is it still a great film? Pretty much.Ĭasino follows casino executive Sam 'Ace' Rothstein (Robert De Niro) as he battles his old mafia buddy Nicky for control of Vegas’ gambling scene. Is Joe Pesci’s character of Nicky Santoro basically a Vegas-dwelling Tommy DeVito? Absolutely. Yet five years later came Casino which, while sometimes treading almost identical narrative beats to Scorsese’s 1990 gangster epic, offers similar levels of tension, violence and deception to Scorsese’s celebrated masterpiece. When you think of Martin Scorsese in the 1990s, Goodfellas is almost always the film that springs to mind. Starring: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci

Casino 1995 running time