Casino is a 1995 American epic crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone. The film is based on the nonfiction book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese.
The film marks the eighth collaboration between director Scorsese and De Niro. Set in 1973–74, it tells the story of Sam “Ace” Rothstein (De Niro), a Jewish American top gambling handicapper who is called by the Italian Mob to oversee the daily operations at the Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. His character is based on Frank Rosenthal, who ran the Stardust, Fremont, and Hacienda casinos in Las Vegas for the Chicago Outfit from the 1970s until the early 1980s.
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Pesci plays Nicholas “Nicky” Santoro, based on real-life Mob enforcer Anthony Spilotro, a “made man” who could give Ace an advantage in handling people who didn’t want to be handled. Nicky is sent to Vegas to make sure that money from the Tangiers is skimmed off the top and sent back to the mobsters in Chicago.
The two previously collaborated on Goodfellas. Based on a true story, that film concerned Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), a half-Irish, half-Sicilian New York City kid who grows up idolizing the “wise guys” in his predominantly Italian-American neighborhood in Brooklyn and eventually becomes one of them. The film detailed his involvement with organized crime from 1955 to 1980, including his work with James Burke (played by De Niro) on the 1978 Lufthansa heist—one of the largest cash thefts in U.
S. history until that point.[4][5].
Casino was released on November 22, 1995, to mostly positive critical reception,[6][7] and was a box office success.[8] Stone’s performance was unanimously praised, earning her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Sam meets and falls in love with Ginger McKenna (Stone), a hustler and former prostitute. They conceive a daughter and marry, but their marriage is quickly thrown into turmoil due to Ginger’s relationship with her former boyfriend, con artist-turned pimp Lester Diamond (James Woods).
Ace’s friendship with Nicky begins to unravel as Ace becomes more comfortable exerting his own authority over The Tangiers while Nicky chafes under Ace’s increasingly heavier hand. Meanwhile, Ginger starts drinking heavily and develops an increasingly problematic cocaine addiction.[9] After Ace fires Ginger for stealing from one of The Tangiers’ count rooms,[10] she reconnects with Lester Diamond,[11] whom she had left earlier because of his violent temper.[12] Ginger then gets revenge on Ace by telling Sam that she is pregnant with Lester’s child which leads to Sam throwing her out of their home.
[13] A furious Ace confronts Lester about this news causing him to have a heart attack during sex[14] after which he agrees to have open heart surgery performed by Dr. William Mulholland.[15] After recuperating at home for several weeks,[16] Ace allows Ginger back into their home but all trust between them has been shattered as Ginger now lives elsewhere.[17] .Ace begins distancing himself from Ginger when she starts seeing Lester again behind his back.[18] Meanwhile, Nicky becomes increasingly paranoid that both Sam and Ace know about his past as an enforcer for Jerry Lombardo back in Chicago[19] and begins making mistakes which put himself and others at risk while also causing tensions within The Tangiers’ operations.
[20] One day while having lunch with Rosenthall at The Beverly Hills Hotel,[21] Rosenthall is gunned down by Frankie Marino which sends shockwaves throughout both The Tangiers’ operations as well as all of Las Vegas’ organized crime families.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] .After Marino’s death,[38] Sam finally realizes he can no longer continue working with Nicky which leads him to order Frankie Patton (Don Rickles) to kill him.[39] However, before Patton can carry out this task he is killed himself by an enraged Nicky who then proceeds to torture and mutilate Frankie’s body before setting it ablaze inside his car outside The Riviera casino.[40][41][42][43.
