When most people think of Las Vegas, they picture a city of opulence, neon signs, and gambling. Casino is a movie that digs deeper than the superficial surface and reveals the history of organized crime’s ties to the strip. It also examines the way casinos are designed to keep players playing longer.
In a business where the house always wins, casinos must rely on psychology to entice customers to spend money they don’t have. To this end, many casinos are designed to feel cozy and intimate. They have few clocks and no windows to make players unaware of the passing of time, and they use soft lighting to create a relaxed mood. In addition, they offer complimentary drinks to encourage players to play longer. Those free drinks, however, cost the casinos in the long run because drunk gamblers often make bad decisions that hurt them.
Casino features some of the best acting performances in a Martin Scorsese film, particularly Robert De Niro as Sam Rothstein and Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna. The cast is rounded out by Joe Pesci as Santoro, a short and stocky mobster whose menacing presence far exceeds his physical stature. In this movie, De Niro is at the peak of his Method Acting abilities.