Martin Scorsese
Casinò

Years ago, I happened to read this aphorism: “There are no absolutely stupid people; there are people who do stupid things. There are no absolutely intelligent people; there are people who do intelligent things. And no one, absolutely no one, always does intelligent things.”

This is the simple yet profound moral of this film, a moral that Joe Pesci proclaims at the beginning: “It was supposed to be smooth sailing, but we screwed it all up.”

Las Vegas, 1973. The Midwest Mob has found a golden goose, Ace Rothstein (Robert De Niro), a guy so meticulous he's turned betting into a kind of exact science. His efforts in seeking information (fixed fights, drugged horses, bribed referees, cocaine-addicted players, etc.) bring a lot of money into the “bosses'” pockets. The guy is sharp, and even though he doesn't have Italian blood, they assign him the management of one of the best casinos in Las Vegas. Then they send Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) to oversee Ace, to protect him and because success can go to one's head—even the most rational head.

But Nicky is afflicted with delusions of grandeur and wants to become the boss of Sin City. To realize his dream, instead of keeping things calm, he starts making a lot of noise and attracting attention, which is not very appreciated by the “good fellas” of the Midwest.

This problem is compounded by Ace's madness, who loses his head over Ginger (Sharon Stone), a “woman of the night,” beautiful and dangerous. She is honest enough to tell him she doesn't love him, but in the eyes of the blonde, Ace's brain melts, and he believes he can change her. The saying goes, “the heart wants what it wants.” But if you let your heart (or pride) rule you...

An amazing film by Scorsese, yet another gem in his career, though the great director has never particularly loved it, saying: “Too many subplots break the humanity of the story.” Indeed, the story of Ichikawa winning at baccarat, but then being cleaned out when he returns to the casino due to a “malfunction” on his plane, and the beautiful story of the two cheaters (as ingenious as stupidly greedy to get caught), somewhat break the unity, but they do not detract from the extraordinary enjoyment of the film.

From the perspective of the story, this film cannot objectively reach “Goodfellas,” because the latter concerns one of the most important pages in the history of organized crime, that is, the Lufthansa heist. “Casino” is, in fact, the story of an (almost) sudden rise followed by an (almost) sudden fall, as seen in many films. However, the uniqueness of the characters and the excellent psychological analysis are textbook-worthy, and more than compensate for the ordinariness of the plot.

Excellent Joe Pesci, very entertaining—especially in the scene in front of Mr. Clark, Ace's banker.

Good De Niro, though I prefer him in “Heat” (to talk about the other film made by the great actor in the same year). Not bad the dubbing by Gigi Proietti.

Truly magnificent Sharon Stone, invisible even in the most dramatic scenes. Oscar nomination. As Stone said: “I asked Martin to put me through the wringer and bring out the best in me.” What a pity that such a talented actress has brought out the best in herself only a few times in her career.