Casino 1995

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Casino ★★★ 1995 (R)

Final part of the Scorsese underworld crime trilogy that began with “Mean Streets” and continued in “GoodFellas.” Casino boss Sam “Ace” Rothstein (De Niro), his ex-hustler wife Ginger (Stone), and his loose-cannon enforcer pal Nicky (Pesci) are the principals in this lengthy, fictionalized account of how the mob lost Las Vegas in a haze of drugs, sex, coincidence, and betrayal. Flashy, intricate, and unflinchingly violent account of mob-run ’70s Vegas clicks when exploring the inner workings of a major casino and its hierarchy. Although Stone shines as a hedonistic money chaser, visuals are great and the soundtrack is a killer, storyline suffers from deja vu. Pileggi again adapted the screenplay from his own book. 177m/C VHS, DVD, HD DVD . Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Don Rickles, Alan King, Kevin Pollak, L.Q. Jones, Dick Smothers, John (Joe Bob Briggs) Bloom, Frankie Avalon, Steve Allen, Jayne Meadows, Jerry Vale; D: Martin Scorsese; W: Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese; C: Robert Richardson. Golden Globes ’96: Actress—Drama (Stone).