Casino (film)
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Casino is a 1995 movie directed by Martin Scorsese, based on the book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi and Larry Shandling. Robert De Niro stars as Sam "Ace" Rothstein, a top gambling handicapper who is called by The Mob to oversee the day-to-day operations at the fictional Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. The story is based on Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, who ran the Stardust, Fremont and the Hacienda casinos in Las Vegas for The Mob from the 1970s until the early 1980s.
Joe Pesci plays Nicky Santoro, based on the real-life Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro, an intimidating enforcer for the Chicago Outfit. Santoro is sent to Vegas by the bosses to make sure that money from the Tangiers is skimmed off the top and that the casinos and mobsters in Vegas are kept in line. Sharon Stone plays Rothstein's wife, Ginger, a role that earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
Pileggi has described Casino as Scorsese's last installment to his gangster trilogy, supplementing Mean Streets and Goodfellas. However, the film has more obvious stylistic connections to the latter (Goodfellas), Scorsese's early 1990s cinematic masterpiece. Also, both films were based on a book by Pileggi and starred De Niro and Pesci. For these reasons, many critics consider Casino an unofficial sequel to Goodfellas.
The film holds the record for most uses of the word "fuck" in a feature length film.
Story
The film is the adaptation of the novel Casino which circles around the lives of mob associates Frank Rosenthal (renamed Sam "Ace" Rothstein for the movie), Tony "The Ant" Spilotro (renamed Nicholas "Nicky" Santoro), Joseph Aiuppa (Remo Gaggi) and Frank Cullotta (Frank Marino). Rothstein and Santoro narrate the film.
Rothstein is entrusted by the leaders of the Chicago outfit, led by Gaggi from Chicago, Illinois, to manage a Las Vegas casino (the Tangiers) they have financed and send them skimmed profits. Rothstein's friend Santoro shows up later (he was first sent to Vegas by Gaggi to keep an eye on Rothstein and to, more or less, "protect" him) and starts working for himself. While Rothstein appears to be a kind-hearted gentleman, Santoro is the polar opposite: an amoral psychopath who will not hesitate to kill anyone he sees as a threat. In one scene, after Santoro is asked by Gaggi to protect Rothstein, Santoro stabs a man in the neck with a pen solely for insulting Rothstein, then mocks the man's whimpers. His cruelty also comes to the surface at another point when he takes his anger out on the Casino Manager, Billy Sherbert (Don Rickles) and hits him in the face with a telephone, calling him a "Jew fuck."
Rothstein and Santoro's relationship meets its biggest test when a woman named Ginger McKenna (based on Geraldine McGee) comes into Rothstein's life. After dating for a few years they have a daughter and get married, Sam having insisted on having the child first to ensure Ginger's commitment to him. All seems well until Ginger is caught sneaking around with her old boyfriend, Lester Diamond (based on Lenny Marmor). Rothstein and Santoro have their men beat Diamond, but it doesn't stop him. Ginger and Diamond eventually kidnap the daughter, Amy, and flee for Los Angeles until Rothstein tracks them down and convinces Ginger to bring Amy back home.
Though not satisfied, Rothstein accepts Ginger back inside the house, but that night, Rothstein catches Ginger speaking on the phone, asking someone to assassinate her husband. Furious, Rothstein hangs the phone up and forces her out of the house. She returns later on, but Rothstein has an even harder time accepting her back.
Now wanting to leave Rothstein with her money, Ginger seduces the one man who will help her: Nicky. They begin an affair. The breaking point occurs when Rothstein and Santoro have a falling out over Santoro's reckless criminal activities and the unwanted attention they receive from the police. Worried for his friend, Rothstein tries to convince Santoro to keep a lower profile, but he will not listen. It is then that Rothstein realises Santoro's true goal: to take over the Casino Empire by overthrowing Remo Gaggi.
Rothstein returns home one night and finds his daughter Amy tied to the bedposts - by Ginger. Rothstein calls Santoro, and Santoro tells him that Ginger is at his restaurant with him. Furious, Rothstein rushes to the restaurant and confronts Ginger, warning her that should she ever abuse their daughter again, he will murder her. Rothstein forces her out, but she sneaks back inside after Rothstein leaves.
Ginger blames Santoro for the mess, while Santoro tells her it was her own fault. Ginger begs Santoro to kill Rothstein, but Santoro refuses, having been Sam's best friend for 35 years. When Santoro tells Ginger that he won't be able to get her her money now, Ginger attacks Santoro. Santoro then shows his brutal nature and mercilessly throws her out of the restaurant with help from his right-hand man Frank Marino (Frank Vincent).
The next day, Ginger goes to Rothstein's home, and demands that he give her her share of the money and her jewelry they have collected during their marriage. When she arrives, she repeatedly smashes her car into Sam's, prompting Sam to call the police. Ginger causes a scene in front of Sam's house and when the police arrive, she demands that they help her enter the house. Sam says he will permit her inside for a few moments to gather some clothes. Ginger sneaks into Sam's office and breaks into his desk, stealing the key to the safe deposit box where most of their cash is stored. At the bank, Ginger collects a large amount of cash from the box and drives off, pursued by two federal agents. They pull her over shortly after and she is arrested.
Ginger's arrest begins the crumbling of the casino empire. The big bosses, ruled by Gaggi, decide to murder anybody who could incriminate them. They kill (actually, Gaggi's men, Curly and Beeper, do the dirty work) a lawyer named Andy Stone, three casino executives, and the money courier John Nance. (Nance's son was already in trouble with the FBI on drug charges; the bosses have Nance killed to prevent his potentially testifying in court.) Rothstein himself is nearly killed by a car bomb, but he suspects the attempt on his life was not ordered by the bosses. In reality, the only deaths related to the casino skimming were Phillip Goodman, Robert Mariscal, William Shaw and Frank Rossana.
Ultimately Nicky Santoro and his brother Dominick are severely beaten and buried alive in a cornfield in Indiana. By this time the bosses have had enough of Nicky, so states Rothstein while narrating; both are buried while they are still breathing. Frank Marino participates in the beating of the Santoro brothers, claiming that he has had enough of their dirty work, though he still feels heartbroken while watching the Santoros' burial. Ginger sinks deeper into drug addiction and eventually dies from a drug overdose, alone and destitute.
The film finishes with a voiceover by Sam explaining that the Tangiers is leveled, along with all the older, classic casinos and they are replaced with bigger, more modern ones. Rothstein also explains that the quaint, friendly feeling of Las Vegas has been replaced by a greedier, more apathetic one. Rothstein returns to his work as a sports handicapper for the mob, but still haunted by the losses of Ginger and Santoro.
Trivia
- The movie is notable for the "revenge" Frank Vincent gets on Joe Pesci. In Goodfellas, Pesci's character, Tommy DeVito, kills Vincent's character, Billy Batts. However, the fortune is reversed in Casino as Vincent's character, Frank Marino helps kill Pesci's character, Nicky Santoro.
- The character of Frank Marino (played by Frank Vincent and based on Frank Culotta) participates in the killing of the Santoro brothers. In reality, Frank Culotta was not present at the beating of the Spilotro brothers (on whom the Santoro brothers were based), and only betrayed them by testifying against them about the M & M murders.
Characters and on whom they are based
- Robert De Niro as Sam "Ace" Rothstein: Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal
- Joe Pesci as Nicky Santoro: Tony "the Ant" Spilotro
- Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna/Rothstein: Geri McGee/Rosenthal
- Frank Vincent as Frank Marino: Frank Cullotta
- Pasquale Cajano as Remo Gaggi: Joseph Aiuppa
- Alan King as Andy Stone: Allen Dorfman
- Bill Allison as John Nance: Jay Vandermark
- Don Rickles as Billy Sherbert: Murray Ehrenberg
- Philip Suriano as Dominic Santoro: Michael Spilotro
- Carl Ciarfalio as Tony Dogs: Billy McCarthy
- Vinny Vella as Artie Piscano: Carl Deluna
- Kevin Pollak as Phillip Green: Allen Glick
- James Woods as Lester Diamond: Lenny Marmor
- Nobu Matsuhisa as K.K. Ichikawa : Akio Kashiwagi
- Ffiolliott Le Coque as Anna Scott: Tamara Rand
- Dick Smothers as The Senator: Harry Reid
- Oscar Goodman as Himself
External links
- [Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal Official Website]
- [Anthony "Tony The Ant" Spilotoro's FBI File](pdf format 5.6 MB file size)
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