Day 364: Casino

Directed By- Martin Scorsese

Writer(s)- Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese; Based on the Book By- Nicholas Pileggi 

Starring- Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone, Don Rickles, James Woods, Kevin Pollak

Run Time- 2 hr. 59 min.

Critics Review- "Martin Scorsese's intimate epic about money, sex and brute force is a grandly conceived study of what happens to goodfellas from the mean streets when they outstrip their wildest dreams and achieve the pinnacle of wealth and power."- Todd McCarthy "Variety" 

Rotten Tomatoes Review- Critics- 80% [CERTIFIED FRESH] Audience- 91%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 4 1/2 stars

My Review-

Another Scorsese film to scratch off my list, that only leaves a couple more and I have to watch that he has directed, and out of the ones I have seen so far, this one has to be the most violent one I have seen. I did like how it was based on a true story, like one of his other previous films which was Goodfellas also both starring De Niro and Pesci, however in this movie the roles were vastly different and a little more interesting even though Goodfellas is one of my favorite gangster films. This movie was mostly about greed and what it can do to people if it takes them to far, and it really works since its set in Vegas and also based on real people, so it was sort of sad to see their rise only lead to their massive downfall even though it was their own damn fault. I have never really liked Sharon Stone as an actress, especially in this movie, I found her very annoying and just wanted to her go away or be done with, which later on actually happens. I did however like Joe Pesci as always, I like seeing him doing movies like this and comedy, even though he scares me in these kind roles since he is so damn ruthless and mean. I think I liked him more in this film than I did in Goodfellas he was able to be more ruthless in this one since he was mostly on his on as an almost mob boss. It seems like when De Niro and Scorsese work together its movie gold, I may have said that before but I do not really care, I think it is amazing when certain actors and directors always work together. Even though movie was quite long, I liked the detail that was put into the film, especially from all three actors coming in to narrate their scenes or parts of their lives from time to time. I think the story liked I liked the most was De Niro's since he went from nothing to something, and then back to nothing and all because he got greedy, while everyone else probably got what they deserved even though it was very brutal and sort of sad, it was good see that De Niro's character actually made it out and was able to something that would not get him in much trouble. I am surprised that Scorsese has only one Best Director once, when its films like this one and others that should have won him those times as well, especially with this film. Other than some flaws here and there this is still a very good movie, and every Scorsese fan or who wants to start watching his films, this should be near the top; along with Gangs of New York, The Departed, Taxi Driver and Goodfellas.