Is the Film Casino a True Story?

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 Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro, following Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), New York, New York (1977), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983), Goodfellas (1990), and Cape Fear (1991).

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Casino was released on November 22, 1995, to a mostly positive critical response and was a box office success. Take a look at what the critics had to say about Casino:

“Ace Rothstein and Nicky Santoro, mobsters who move to Las Vegas to make their mark, live and work in this paradoxical world. Seen through their eyes, each as a foil to the other, the details of mob involvement in the casinos of the 1970’s and ’80’s are revealed.

PRO TIP:Casino (1995) is a fictional movie based on a true story, taking inspiration from actual events that occurred in Las Vegas during the 1970s and ’80s. While some of the characters are based on real people, the events of the movie are highly dramatized and not completely accurate.

Ace is the smooth operator of the Tangiers casino, while Nicky is his boyhood friend and tough strongman, robbing and shaking down the locals. However, they each have a tragic flaw–Ace falls in love with a hustler, Ginger, and Nicky falls into an ever-deepening spiral of drugs and violence.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

“It’s not that “Casino” doesn’t have plenty happening within it’s nearly three hour runtime. It’s that nearly everything that happens is not especially compelling.” – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

“Martin Scorsese’s riveting look at how blind ambition, white-hot passion and 24-karat greed toppled an empire.” – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

So what do you think? Is the film Casino a true story? While it is based on actual events, many of the details have been changed for dramatic effect. However, at its core, Casino is still an intriguing story about power, money, love, and betrayal.