In early-1970s Las Vegas, low-level mobster Sam "Ace" Rothstein gets tapped by his bosses to head the Tangiers Casino. At first, he's a great success in the job, but over the years, problems with his loose-cannon enforcer Nicky Santoro, his ex-hustler wife Ginger, her con-artist ex Lester Diamond and a handful of corrupt politicians put Sam in ever-increasing danger.
Nominated for 1 Oscar. 4 wins & 11 nominations total
Top Critics Reviews
rotten:
It's not the actors' fault that no one is able to break through the film's gorgeous but chilly surface. You watch Casino with respect and appreciation, reveling in its documentary sense of detail.
– David Ansen,
Newsweek,
31 Mar 2008
fresh:
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,
16 May 2008
rotten:
Simultaneously quite watchable and passionless.
– Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader,
25 Jan 2010
fresh:
So long as Casino stays focused on the excesses -- of language, of violence, of ambition -- in the life-styles of the rich and infamous, it remains a smart, knowing, if often repetitive, spectacle.
– Richard Schickel,
TIME Magazine,
25 Jan 2010
fresh:
[Stone] seems to be trying to enter a more passionate movie, where a neurotic gold digger could at least have a good time. By the end of Casino, for all its craftsmanly bravura, you may want to join her.