It’s happened to all of us: We stride into the Luxor or Mohegan Sun brimming with confidence and a wallet full of cash, ready for a bit of enjoyable, sensible gaming and maybe two rounds of drinks. But hours later, we’re staring at an ATM withdrawal slip and wondering where all our money went. It turns out casinos are masters of manipulating our spending habits. With sound, light, and physical design, they create an environment that’s at once welcoming and hard to step away from. To snare cheaters, most gambling establishments employ dealers and other floor staff trained to spot suspicious betting patterns and install “eye-in-the-sky” surveillance systems. They also rely on RFID chips to track player behavior and alert security departments when the chips aren’t where they should be.
Sam “Ace” Rothstein (De Niro) is the Jewish American gambling expert who’s hired by the Chicago Outfit to manage its day-to-day casino operations in Las Vegas. He’s joined by Nicky Santoro (Pesci), a mob enforcer who oversees the casino’s security, and Ginger McKenna (Stone), a streetwise chip hustler Sam marries. Together they’re tasked with attracting the attention of mob bosses and maintaining the casino’s reputation for discretion.
While many movies have been set in Sin City, few capture the era and complexities of the casinos like Martin Scorsese’s Casino. It’s not as streamlined as his previous film, Goodfellas, but it’s more complex in the way it deals with the rise and fall of its characters and how their relationships deteriorate as they become consumed by greed and power.
