Casino DVD
by Robert Carter
CAST: Robert De Niro, Alan King, Joe Pesci, Kevin Pollack, Don Rickles,
Sharon Stone, James Woods
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese (1995)
THE RATING
Movie: ** DVD: ***
THE FILM
“IT WAS PARADISE WHILE IT LASTED...” That’s what Robert De Niro’s character says about the events chronicled in “Casino.” But, if Adam and Eve were thrown out of this Paradise...the Serpent definitely remained. The movie chronicles the rapid rise of lucky gambler and casino boss De Niro in 1970’s Las Vegas. ("The Riviera” doubles for the fictional “The Tangiers") De Niro is arguably the only likeable front-row character in this drama, though I have to confess a fondness for Don Rickles’ nicely underplayed--near-silent-- casino manager.
As lucky as De Niro’s character “Ace” is his stay in Pardise is doomed by his choice of friends (Joe Pesci), and his choice of a fiancee (Sharon Stone), to be a brief sojourn. Many times Ace insists that he needs to be able to trust the people around him. Unfortunately, (like Al Pacino’s character in the De Palma movie “Carlito’s Way"), he trusts the wrong people, and doesn’t learn from his mistakes.
The disc indicates the story is based on writer Nicholas Pileggi’s notes for an unpublished book on a real-life casino boss. Look for a sly reference to Scorsese’s “New York, New York"--the “Aces High” number. Also look for cameos by Steve Allen and Dick Smothers (!)
Good Points: Excellent acting all around. An engrossing story, well told--Scorese is a master. A snappy soundtrack--featuring music from artists as diverse as Dean Martin, Ray Charles, The Rolling Stones and Devo. (In fact, Scorsese introduces a new song--closely tied to the action--in almost every scene!)
Bad Points: The casino is (surprise!) backed by the Mob; so by the end of the film there’s so much repulsive and graphic violence you’d think you were watching “The Godfather.” The movie leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth...and a low opinion of people.
“Casino” aptly illustrates that the only difference between “high rollers” and “low lifes” is...time.
THE DVD
DVD afficionados will be pleased to know the disc is one-sided--that is, the whole three-hour movie runs continuosly--no flipping. The film’s presented in widescreen. The disc includes “production notes” and cast bio’s.
NITPICKS
In the opening scene the switch from a live actor to a dummy for a shot of an explosion is fairly obvious. At one point there’s a close-up of two newspaper articles; if you pause the DVD you’ll see the articles start out “legitimate,” but become gibberish a short way in… There’s a glitch on the disc at about 1 hour, 26 minutes (the point at which the DVD switches layers?)