casino movie review new york times

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors.

Now streaming on:

If the Mafia didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent it.

The same is true of Las Vegas. There is a universal need to believe in an outfit that exists outside the rules and can get things done.

There's a related need for a place where the rules are suspended, where there's no day or night, where everything has a price, where if you're lucky, you go home a millionaire. Of course, people who go to Vegas lose money, and people who deal with the mob, regret it. But hope is what we're talking about. Neither the mob nor Vegas could exist if most people weren't optimists.

Martin Scorsese's fascinating new film "Casino" knows a lot about the Mafia's relationship with Las Vegas. It's based on a book by Nicholas Pileggi , who had full access to a man who once ran four casinos for the mob, and whose true story inspires the movie's plot.

Like " The Godfather ," it makes us feel like eavesdroppers in a secret place.

The movie opens with a car bombing, and the figure of Sam "Ace" Rothstein floating through the air. The movie explains how such a thing came to happen to him. The first hour plays like a documentary; there's a narration, by Rothstein ( Robert De Niro ) and others, explaining how the mob skimmed millions out of the casinos.

It's an interesting process. Assuming you could steal 25 percent of the slot-machine take - what would you do with tons of coins? How would you convert them into bills that could be stuffed into the weekly suitcase for delivery to the mob in Kansas City? "Casino" knows. It also knows how to skim from the other games, and from food service and the gift shops. And it knows about how casinos don't like to be stolen from.

There's an incident where a man is cheating at blackjack, and a couple of security guys sidle up to him and jab him with a stun gun.

He collapses, the security guys call for medical attention, and hurry him away to a little room where they pound on his fingers with a mallet and he agrees that he made a very bad mistake.

Rothstein, based on the real-life figure of Frank (Lefty) Rosenthal, starts life as a sports oddsmaker in Chicago, attracts the attention of the mob because of his genius with numbers and is assigned to run casinos because he looks like an efficient businessman who will encourage the Vegas goose to continue laying its golden eggs. He is a man who detests unnecessary trouble. One day, however, trouble finds him, in the person of Ginger McKenna ( Sharon Stone ), a high-priced call girl.

Scorsese shows him seeing Ginger on a TV security monitor and falling so instantly in love that the image becomes a freeze-frame.

Ace showers her with gifts, which she is happy to have, but when he wants to marry her, she objects; she's been with a pimp named Lester Diamond ( James Woods ) since she was a kid, and she doesn't want to give up her profession. Rothstein will make her an offer she can't refuse: cars, diamonds, furs, a home with a pool and the key to his safety-deposit box. She marries him. It is Ace's first mistake.

Another mistake was to meet Nicky Santoro ( Joe Pesci ) when they were both kids in Chicago. Nicky is a thief and a killer, who comes to Vegas, forms a crew and throws his weight around. After he squeezes one guy's head in a vise, the word goes out that he's the mob's enforcer. Not true, but people believe it, and soon Nicky's name is being linked with his old pal Ace in all the newspapers.

Scorsese tells his story with the energy and pacing he's famous for, and with a wealth of little details that feel just right. Not only the details of tacky 1970s period decor, but little moments such as when Ace orders the casino cooks to put "exactly the same amount of blueberries in every muffin." Or when airborne feds are circling a golf course while spying on the hoods, and their plane runs out of gas and they have to make an emergency landing right on the green.

And when crucial evidence is obtained because a low-level hood kept a record of his expenses. And when Ace hosts a weekly show on local TV - and reveals a talent for juggling.

Meanwhile, Ginger starts drinking, and Ace is worried about their kid, and they start having public fights, and she turns to Nicky for advice that soon becomes consolation, and when Ace finds out she may be fooling around, he utters a line that, in its way, is perfect: "I just hope it's not somebody who I think it might be." "It was," a narrator tells us, "the last time street guys would ever be given such an opportunity." All the mob had to do was take care of business. But when Ace met Ginger and when Nicky came to town, the pieces were in place for the mob to become the biggest loser in Vegas history. "We screwed up good," Nicky says, not using exactly those words. Scorsese gets the feel, the mood, almost the smell of the city just right; De Niro and Pesci inhabit their roles with unconscious assurance, Stone's call girl is her best performance, and the supporting cast includes such people as Don Rickles , whose very presence evokes an era (his job is to stand impassively beside the boss and look very sad about what might happen to whoever the boss is talking to).

Unlike his other Mafia movies (" Mean Streets " and " GoodFellas "), Scorsese's "Casino" is as concerned with history as with plot and character. The city of Las Vegas is his subject, and he shows how it permitted people like Ace, Ginger and Nicky to flourish, and then spit them out, because the Vegas machine is too profitable and powerful to allow anyone to slow its operation. When the Mafia, using funds from the Teamsters union, was ejected in the late 1970s, the 1980s ushered in a new source of financing: junk bonds. The guys who floated those might be the inspiration for "Casino II." "The big corporations took over," the narrator observes, almost sadly. "Today, it works like Disneyland." Which brings us back to our opening insight. In a sense, people need to believe a town like Vegas is run by guys like Ace and Nicky.

In a place that breaks the rules, maybe you can break some, too. For those with the gambler mentality, it's actually less reassuring to know that giant corporations, financed by bonds and run by accountants, operate the Vegas machine. They know all the odds, and the house always wins. With Ace in charge, who knows what might happen?

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

Now playing

Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces

Brian tallerico.

Kim's Video

Sleeping Dogs

The Animal Kingdom

Monica castillo.

It's Only Life After All

Sheila o'malley, film credits.

Casino (1995)

Rated R Strong Brutal Violence, Pervasive Strong Language, Drug Use and Some Sexuality

175 minutes

Robert De Niro as Sam Rothstein

Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna

Joe Pesci as Nicky Santoro

James Woods as Lester Diamond

Don Rickles as Billy Sherbert

Alan King as Andy Stone

Directed by

• Martin Scorsese
• Nicholas Pileggi

Based On The Book by

Latest blog posts.

A Plea for Someone to Save Megalopolis

The End of the World is Going to be Weird on Prime Video’s Quirky, Clever Adaptation of Fallout

The Zellner Brothers Take a Walk in the Woods with Sasquatch Sunset

The Scene That Clint Eastwood Cut to Make Unforgiven a Classic

Awesome, you're subscribed!

Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!

The best things in life are free.

Sign up for our email to enjoy your city without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush).

Déjà vu! We already have this email. Try another?

By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.

Love the mag?

Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox. Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news, events, offers and partner promotions.

• Things to Do
• Food & Drink
• Arts & Culture
• Time Out Market
• Coca-Cola Foodmarks
• Los Angeles

Get us in your inbox

🙌 Awesome, you're subscribed!

Time Out says

Scorsese's movie is technically impressive. There's even something inherently fascinating about the subject - the way Las Vegas, and the organised criminals who run it, have changed over the last couple of decades. What's wrong is the approach: virtuosity seems almost to have become an end in itself, and, as the film charts the experiences of Sam 'Ace' Rothstein (De Niro), a gambler the Mob places in charge of the Tangiers casino, Scorsese's dazzling, kinetic technique calls attention to itself so persistently that story and characters retreat into the background. Not that there's much story, anyway. The first two hours are so heavily voice-overed, so bereft of narrative drive, that the film initially resembles some bizarre, hyper-glossy drama-doc. Eventually, some semblance of plot seeps into the last hour, about Ace's disastrous dealings with his ex-hooker wife Ginger (Stone, fine in an underwritten role) and with the uncontrollably volatile mobster Nicky (Pesci), but even that's like a tired rerun of GoodFellas . The result, sadly, is that contradiction in terms, a dull Scorsese movie.

Release Details

• Duration: 178 mins

Cast and crew

• Director: Martin Scorsese
• Screenwriter: Martin Scorsese, Nicholas Pileggi
• Don Rickles
• James Woods
• Kevin Pollak
• Robert De Niro
• Sharon Stone

An email you’ll actually love

Discover Time Out original video

• Press office
• Investor relations
• Work for Time Out
• Editorial guidelines
• Privacy notice
• Do not sell my information
• Cookie policy
• Accessibility statement
• Terms of use
• Modern slavery statement
• Manage cookies
• Advertising

Time Out Worldwide

• All Time Out Locations
• North America
• South America
• South Pacific

Cookie banner

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy . Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use , which became effective December 20, 2019.

By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.

Follow The Ringer online:

• Follow The Ringer on Twitter
• Follow The Ringer on Instagram
• Follow The Ringer on Youtube

Site search

• March Madness
• What to Watch
• Bill Simmons Podcast
• 24 Question Party People
• 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s
• Against All Odds
• Bachelor Party
• The Bakari Sellers Podcast
• Beyond the Arc
• The Big Picture
• Black Girl Songbook
• Book of Basketball 2.0
• Boom/Bust: HQ Trivia
• Counter Pressed
• The Dave Chang Show
• East Coast Bias
• Every Single Album: Taylor Swift
• Extra Point Taken
• Fairway Rollin’
• Fantasy Football Show
• The Fozcast
• The Full Go
• Gambling Show
• Gene and Roger
• Higher Learning
• The Hottest Take
• Jam Session
• Just Like Us
• Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air
• Last Song Standing
• The Local Angle
• Masked Man Show
• The Mismatch
• Mint Edition
• Morally Corrupt Bravo Show
• New York, New York
• Off the Pike
• One Shining Podcast
• Philly Special
• Plain English
• The Pod Has Spoken
• The Press Box
• The Prestige TV Podcast
• Recipe Club
• The Rewatchables
• Ringer Dish
• The Ringer-Verse
• The Ripple Effect
• The Rugby Pod
• The Ryen Russillo Podcast
• Sports Cards Nonsense
• Slow News Day
• Speidi’s 16th Minute
• Somebody’s Gotta Win
• Sports Card Nonsense
• This Blew Up
• Trial by Content
• Wednesday Worldwide
• What If? The Len Bias Story
• Wrighty’s House
• Wrestling Show
• Latest Episodes
• All Podcasts

Filed under:

• Pop Culture

‘Casino’ Has Always Been About More Than the Neon Vegas Lights

Martin Scorsese’s 1995 epic, which turns 25 this weekend, was derided as a retread of some of his previous work. But there’s more to it than underworld intrigue.

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Twitter
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: ‘Casino’ Has Always Been About More Than the Neon Vegas Lights

“When you love someone you gotta trust ’em … there’s no other way.” So says Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro) in the opening moments of Casino, outlining a worldview that would seem to be at odds with his status as Las Vegas’s reigning bettor extraordinaire. In gambling, love and trust are dicey propositions; most of the time, you’re better off relying on blind chance.

A few seconds after delivering that line, Ace turns the key on his vehicle’s ignition and is seemingly incinerated by a secretly placed car bomb—a sign, perhaps, that this long-serving mob associate’s loyalty and/or affections have been misplaced. But the joke—and it’s a good one, even if it takes most of the film’s three-hour run time to reach the punch line—is that the master handicapper is saved by a stroke of luck: A metal stabilization plate under the driver’s seat turns out to be Ace’s ace in the hole.

In 1995, Martin Scorsese was not only beloved, but trusted—firstly and always by an international cinephile community that’d considered him a good bet since the early 1970s, but also by the Hollywood moneymen he’d alienated at one point with a series of box-office flops. Taken together, the run between New York, New York , Raging Bull , The King of Comedy , and After Hours provided ample evidence of Scorsese’s artistic daring while damaging his perceived commercial viability; the common denominator between these very different (and equally extraordinary) movies was a lack of mainstream interest. The strategic rebound of The Color of Money, a custom-tooled showcase for Tom Cruise, suggested that the director was still willing to play (eight) ball, and after leveraging that film’s success to make The Last Temptation of Christ , Scorsese shifted his trajectory toward edgy moneymakers like Goodfellas and Cape Fear.

More specifically, it was the healthy return on investment of Goodfellas —which penetrated the popular consciousness and grossed more than $46.8 million in the United States—that prompted Universal to sign off on Casino. The film was packaged as a sort of spiritual sequel: another organized crime epic from a fact-based book by Nicholas Pileggi—this one based on the life and times of casino executive Frank Rosenthal—and prominently featuring two of Goodfellas ’ goodfellas (De Niro and Joe Pesci, completing a collaborative trilogy begun in Raging Bull ). In a moment when violent, profane criminality was in vogue thanks to the breakthrough of Quentin Tarantino—one of several millennial auteurs indebted to Scorsese —Casino looked like a monster hit in waiting. The film was unveiled with a flourish in November 1995, which was a choice awards-season release date that positioned it as a major Oscar contender. Reviews were respectful, but the consensus was that Scorsese was retreading familiar territory, and the only Academy Award nomination the film received was for Sharon Stone for Best Actress.

Stone is indeed superb in Casino as Ginger McKenna, the statuesque hustler who wins—and subsequently betrays—Ace’s love and trust to the point of obliterating his high-rolling lifestyle. That said, one of the subtler points of Scorsese and Pileggi’s screenplay is that her husband is equally, if not more, to blame for their mutual misery. Self-destruction is one of Scorsese’s great themes, and Casino offers up not one but three characters whose outsized ambitions get the better of them in different ways as casualties of Las Vegas’s addictive atmosphere. For Ginger, an inveterate and expert gold digger who prizes independence, the fatal mistake was buying into a counterfeit notion of domestic bliss. For Ace, the mistake was offering up such a doomed bargain in the first place. As for Pesci’s Nicky Santoro—Ace’s main enforcer and an erratic, impulsive cousin to the actor’s signature role as Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas , minus the psychopathic cackle—his completely avoidable error is interjecting himself into the middle of a fractured marriage. Convinced of his white-knight status, he gives his loyal pal Ace the cold shoulder while offering Ginger the other one to cry on. Bad call. “It should have been perfect,” sighs Nicky, who gets his own voice-over in counterpoint to Ace’s. “But in the end, we fucked it all up.”

Casino has the long, clean dramatic lines of a tragedy and little of the slapstick humor that made Goodfellas so quotable and prime for affectionate parodies and homages from everyone from Animaniacs to Jay-Z. Casino isn’t quite as omnipresent, although a case can be made that The Weeknd’s entire quarantine look has been a sustained tribute. Goodfellas is rewatchable because it’s seductive, swift, and nasty: It’s a fable of initiation in which Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill ends up strung out on a fast-paced, nocturnal lifestyle well before he’s hooked on cocaine. In its way, Goodfellas plays as a parody of a coming-of-age movie, with Henry simultaneously moving up the ranks and descending into a moral void; the key to Liotta’s performance is that he plays him at all times like a callow, overgrown kid.

Casino ’s protagonist, though, is a grown-up. Ace is already middle-aged when the story begins in 1973, and he ages visibly through the narrative (anticipating an even deeper focus on obsolescence and mortality in Scorsese’s The Irishman ). Goodfellas and Casino were made only five years apart, yet it’s still fascinating to mark their contrasting tones and what they say about the man behind the camera. With the earlier film, it’s as if Scorsese was trying for a show of youthful force—the cinematic equivalent of the triumphant moment in The Color of Money when Paul Newman’s “Fast” Eddie Felson hits a clattering clean break and proclaims “I’m back!” Casino has a few bravura set pieces and its own brand of filmmaking excitement—cinematographer Robert Richardson goes all the way off, saturating his palette with the colors of money and bestowing a frighteningly blank, lunar scale on the scenes set in the Nevada desert—and yet the showmanship is judicious. The sensibility here is less exuberant than rueful, and carefully attuned to institutional systems of grift.

Like Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls —the other great Las Vegas movie of 1995— Casino is not just set in Sin City but about it: It’s a civic portrait scribbled in neon in the shape of a rigged wheel. In a brilliantly constructed early sequence with deliberate echoes of Goodfellas’ Copacabana interlude—another prowling Steadicam, gliding through closed doors and into an illicit inner circle—we see the money counting room of the mighty Tangiers Casino, where skimming off the till is an art, one that Ace countenances as long as the kickbacks go to a group of old-school bosses in Kansas City.

Anybody who tries to cheat out on the floor, though, is subject to surveillance; if they’re spotted, they get thrown out or worse. One con artist is caught figuratively red-handed and then rendered literally so by a well-placed sledgehammer—the first act of horrific violence in a movie that pushes the envelope in that department. Scorsese doesn’t pause to underline the hypocrisy of men who are willing to maim to preserve the rules they themselves habitually break. Instead, he blends the shady ethical contradictions of Ace’s job and the flat-out brutality of Nicky’s gig into a troublingly even-keeled evocation of business as usual.

It’s Stone who spikes the movie’s energy toward the end of the first act. Circa 1995, the actress was trying to parlay the notoriety of her role in Basic Instinct , and her performance in Casino both builds on and inverts her star-making turn. Like Basic Instinct ’s Catherine Tramell, Ginger exults in her ability to seduce and control men (“smart hustlers like her could keep a guy awake for two or three days,” Ace says admiringly) while lacking any ability to rein herself in. She’s a perpetual motion machine, holding and at times leading the camera’s gaze. You can’t take your eyes off of her. But at the same time that she casts a spell on Vegas’s high rollers—Ace included—Ginger exists in thrall to her own Svengali: Cue James Woods in scraggly beta-male mode as her supremely shitty ex-boyfriend Lester, a pimp and addict who keeps hitting her up for money after she and Ace get hitched.

Part of what drives Ace to despair is that his wife—who was, to her credit, up front about not exactly being madly in love when they wed—would keep running off to a guy with a sex-offender mustache and a mesh T-shirt. Woods digs deep into his bag of scumbag tricks to play arguably the most pathetic and unsympathetic character in any Scorsese film ever (and that’s saying something), punctuating his performance by sneering like an asshole at the adorable little girl playing Ginger’s daughter.

Ace is trying to wrangle his wife behind the scenes, and so he overdoes it on other fronts, styling himself as a local celebrity and talk-show host and incurring the wrath of both his unofficial higher-ups (who think he’s in the midst of a power grab) and the cowboy-hatted desert power brokers who resent a “kike” encroaching on their territory. No filmmaker is better at exploring male rituals of one-upmanship and overcompensation than Scorsese, whose films tend to emphasize their protagonists’ vengeful excesses. Without judging his characters, he has their number. Ace sees himself as a principled, old-school operator, at one point refusing to help the FBI in their investigation of Nicky even though he has reason to believe his best friend is currently sleeping with his wife. But Casino doesn’t confuse its protagonist for any kind of dashing underworld hero: As De Niro plays him, Ace is actually a bit smaller than life.

In a movie like Casino , it’s crucial to draw a line between the thugs who see themselves as the last honest practitioners of a tough racket and their actual actions; Scorsese’s refusal to draw a line between depiction and endorsement is his hallmark as an artist. (See also The Wolf of Wall Street, a movie that’s actually much closer to Casino than Goodfellas. ) For all his tender rhetoric about love and trust, Ace proves to be a heartless son of a bitch—not more so than others in his orbit, perhaps, but still guided by a demagnetized moral compass. Scorsese’s ambivalence is also evident in Casino ’s truly hellacious violence, including a torture-by-vice sequence featuring a popped eyeball and a shockingly edited and sound-designed baseball bat-beating, both of which had to be trimmed to avoid an NC-17 rating.

Without stinting on the viciousness, Scorsese still conveys an element of nostalgia in Casino , although it’s less because the movie is convinced by Ace and Nicky’s vision of the good old days than it is skepticism over what will eventually replace them. Like Boogie Nights a couple of years later, Casino is a ’70s period piece that imagines the ’80s (and beyond) as a hellscape—albeit one that’s deserving of hate mostly for being so carefully sanitized. “The town will never be the same,” Ace says in the film’s final scene over images of the Tangiers’ demolition, lamenting the transformation of Las Vegas into a family-friendly theme park. “Today it looks like Disneyland.” The point, of course, is not that the place has gone legit, but that it operates at the leisure of white-collar corporate overlords instead of hard-edged capos. If there’s an allegory in there about an increasingly centralized, anodyne, and coldly profitous movie industry—i.e., the kind that could marginalize as virtuoso an artist as Martin Scorsese—so be it.

Throughout the 2000s, Scorsese would make increasingly massive gambles with studio resources, producing five $100 million-plus movies, a fact that doesn’t undermine Casino ’s despairing subtext so much as vindicate it from the inside out. “I could still make money for all kinds of people back home,” says Ace by way of explaining why, after the loss of everyone he rightly or wrongly loved or trusted and the reupholstering of his stomping grounds, he refuses to budge. He plays the game because it’s the only game in town. For him—and for Scorsese—there’s no other way.

Next Up In Movies

‘joker: folie à deux’ trailer, ‘x-men ’97,’ and ‘shogun’.

• Where Did It All Go Wrong for J.Lo?
• With ‘Civil War,’ A24 Joins the Blockbuster Front Lines
• ‘Dune: Part Two’ and the 10 Best Movies of the Year … So Far
• ‘The War of the Roses’ With Bill Simmons, Mallory Rubin, and Amanda Dobbins
• Early Winners and Losers of 2024

Sign up for the The Ringer Newsletter

Thanks for signing up.

Check your inbox for a welcome email.

Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again.

‘Survivor’ Season 46, Episode 7

Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt joins Tyson and Riley this week to talk about the secret sauce of the show

The Friendships of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

To celebrate the 20th season, Erika is joined by Rae Witte and Denise Warner to look at the defining friendships of the beloved series

Draft Needs for Every NFC Team

Danny, Craig, Danny, and Ben run through the major team needs for every squad in the NFC

All-NBA Picks (Also in Pencil)

The guys also start out by talking about the UConn Huskies’ victory

Team Makeovers | Dual Threat

Some teams need help navigating the draft and free agency

The Midnight Boys get together to share their thoughts on the maddening trailer for ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’

Casino (1995)

• User Reviews

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews

• User Ratings
• External Reviews
• Metacritic Reviews
• Full Cast and Crew
• Release Dates
• Official Sites
• Company Credits
• Filming & Production
• Technical Specs
• Plot Summary
• Plot Keywords
• Parents Guide

Did You Know?

• Crazy Credits
• Alternate Versions
• Connections
• Soundtracks

Photo & Video

• Photo Gallery
• Trailers and Videos

Related Items

• External Sites

Related lists from IMDb users

Recently Viewed

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

Movie Review – Casino (1995)

March 3, 2023 by Chris Connor

Casino , 1995.

Directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, Don Rickles, Kevin Pollak, and James Woods.

A tale of greed, deception, money, power, and murder occur between two best friends: a mafia enforcer and a casino executive compete against each other over a gambling empire, and over a fast-living and fast-loving socialite.

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro’s collaborations need no introduction with the pair teaming on nine films and soon to work together on Killers of the Flower Moon . The pair’s eighth collaboration, 1995’s Casino , now comes to digital for the first time and remains an underrated film from a director on one of his hottest streaks, fresh off the huge acclaim of Goodfellas and his take on The Age of Innocence with Daniel Day Lewis.

Casino focuses on Sam Rothstein (De Niro), a Jewish American gambling expert handicapper tasked by the Chicago Outfit to oversee casino and hotel operations at the Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. It also marked Scorsese’s third collaboration with Joe Pesci as Nicky Santoro, Sam’s right hand man. The real highlight of the film however wasn’t its two leading men but Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna earning rave reviews and an Academy Award nomination – indeed the film’s sole Oscar nomination.

With so many creatives involved in both Goodfellas and Casino , there are naturally comparisons between the two but the focus on gambling does mean these are often unwarranted and De Niro is more front and centre here with him more a supporting figure to Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill in Goodfellas . Stylistically there are of course some similarities, the use of voiceover and some of the terminology but for the most part they are different beasts.  As with Goodfellas there are bouts of explosive violence.

De Niro and Pesci are as one might expect on top form with Sam looking to be in control and Pesci a fine foil. Stone deservedly earned plaudits, lighting up the screen whenever she appears. De Niro is on screen for the vast majority of the film’s three hour runtime and so there is much relying on his performance and he exudes star power showing how in sync he is with Scorsese in one of this finest performances of the 1990s, remarkably coming alongside another the same year in Michael Mann’s Heat .

Cinematographer Robert Richardson in his first of seven collaborations with Scorsese shows why they are such a fine pairing, delivering a visual treat and one of Scorsese’s most aesthetically pleasing films. As ever with a Scorsese film the soundtrack is an eclectic mix of Blues, Soul, Rock N Roll and more with tracks by Dinah Washington, Dean Martin, The Rolling Stones, Otis Redding and Muddy Waters among many others. It is one of the strongest soundtracks of his storied career and perfectly fits the films 70s setting.

Casino is a film showing a director at the top of his game in the middle of an especially hot streak. If not Scorsese’s strongest effort it is certainly worthy of appreciation. De Niro and Pesci excel as ever while Sharon Stone almost steals the film from under them, and if there is an element of formula on display it is simply because Scorsese is one of the best at the crime epic, beautifully capturing 70s Vegas and sandwiched between The Age of Innocence and Kundun showing his range, something he often doesn’t get enough credit for.

Nearly 30 years on Casino remains a strong film within a fine filmography and a De Niro Scorsese collaboration worthy of praise.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★/ Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

Chris Connor

What Should We Watch Tonight? A Movie Podcast

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Philip K. Dick & Hollywood: The Essential Movie Adaptations

Ten Great Love Letters to Cinema

Forgotten 2000s Comedies That Are Worth Revisiting

10 Essential 80s Vampire Movies You Might Have Missed

Ten Essential Films of the 1940s

The Best Retro 2000 AD Video Games

10 Most Underrated Sci-Fi Movies of the 1980s

Sirens from Space: Species and Under The Skin

10 Actors Quentin Tarantino Needs In His Final Film

Lock, Stock and The Essential Guy Ritchie Movies

• Comic Books
• Video Games
• Toys & Collectibles
• Articles and Opinions
• About Flickering Myth
• Write for Flickering Myth
• Advertise on Flickering Myth
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy

Casino (United States, 1995)

After viewing Casino , you may never look at Las Vegas in quite the same way. While this film, adapted from Nicholas Pileggi's nonfiction book, Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas , doesn't offer much in the way of startling revelations, it presents a fascinating insider's perspective of what goes on behind-the-scenes in the country's gambling mecca. As is stated several times, Vegas isn't about fun, glitz, or glamour. Those things are just the surface gloss. Instead, it's all about greed and money -- bringing customers in, keeping them playing, and sucking them dry.

Casino opens with short sequence in 1983 before moving on to the meat of the story, which is related through flashbacks. Director Martin Scorsese makes heavy use of voiceovers, employing disembodied monologues by both lead actors -- Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci -- to fill in gaps. The sheer volume of words sporadically detracts from character development, but it is integrated successfully enough not to seem overly intrusive. While the intelligence and wit of the voiceovers makes them palatable, such nonstop talking isn't always the best way to convey a story -- the temptation to tell something, rather than show it, is too great. Casino doesn't always avoid that trap.

In every way -- from the fantastic sets, rich dialogue, and unapologetic violence to the well-portrayed characters and themes of loyalty and betrayal -- Casino is pure Scorsese. Although not the director's top work, this is nevertheless compelling film making. Scorsese has never pulled punches in breathing life into his ideas, and he doesn't start here. If there's an obvious weakness in Casino , it's that it occasionally seems derivative of Goodfellas .

During its three-hour running time, Casino tells the story of two men's intermingled lives. "Back home years ago" (as an on-screen caption reads), they were friends and co-workers. Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Robert De Niro, in his eighth acting collaboration with Scorsese) was a gambler who never lost. He researched all his bets carefully, and rarely made a bad pick. His winning tendencies gained him popularity and favor with the local mob, who used Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) to shadow and protect him. Now that Ace has moved to Vegas to manage the Tangiers Casino, Nicky isn't far behind. And, while the two gravitate to opposite sides of the law, with Ace keeping his fingers clean and Nicky taking over the local crime scene, their paths continue to cross, and their encounters become increasingly less friendly. Stirred into the mix is Ace's girlfriend, Ginger (Sharon Stone), an expert hustler who attracts men like flies. Although she agrees to marry Ace, she continues a liaison with her former pimp (James Woods) while encouraging Nicky's affections.

As usual, Scorsese obtains excellent performances from his leads. Joe Pesci, essentially reprising his Goodfellas performance, will probably get all the attention, since this sort of flamboyance attracts raves. Actually, though, it's De Niro's more subtle, better-contained acting that's riveting. Casino is supposed to focus on both Ace and Nicky, but, despite nearly equal screen time for each, our sympathy is drawn towards the former. For this, De Niro's portrayal shares equal responsibility with the screenplay.

In his most recent four films, Scorsese has shown the ability to take a mediocre actress and cull an impressive performance from her. In Goodfellas , it was Lorraine Bracco. In Cape Fear , Juliette Lewis. In The Age of Innocence , Michelle Pfeiffer (arguably the best of the bunch). And now, in Casino , it's Sharon Stone, whose resume ( Basic Instinct , Sliver , The Specialist ) is enough to make any serious movie-goer wince. Surprisingly, however, she's fine -- not Oscar material, but strong enough not to drag down the film. Stone doesn't stick out like a sore thumb, and, based on Scorsese's track record, a lion's share of the credit for this should be given to him.

Supporting players include a restrained James Woods, comedian Don Rickles in a serious role, Alan King (also playing it straight), and Kevin Pollak. Scorsese's mother has a brief (and very funny) appearance as the no-nonsense parent of a bumbling, small-time gangster. And faces associated with Vegas, like Steve Allen, Frankie Avalon, Jayne Meadows, and Jerry Vale, have cameos.

Casino was filmed in Las Vegas, and this shows in the splashiness and energy of nearly every scene. By using gaudy costumes and a 70's soundtrack, Scorsese takes us back some two decades. Starting with the vivid opening credits (designed by Elaine and Saul Bass, whose amazing work on The Age of Innocence was one of that film's highlights), Casino sparkles like its fake diamond of a host city. The cinematography, which uses surprisingly few tricks other than freeze-framing to emphasize key moments, is crisp and clean.

By now, audiences have come to expect forceful films from Martin Scorsese. With Casino , he doesn't disappoint. The movie is long, but, with a fast-moving storyline, escalating tension, and surprisingly robust humor, the three hours move quickly. Several flaws, mostly minor, keep Casino on a plateau slightly below that of the director's best ( Mean Streets, Raging Bull , Taxi Driver , Goodfellas ), but, in this relatively-bland Thanksgiving movie season, this is one of the few entries worth making an effort to see.

Comments Add Comment

• Jaws (1975)
• Rear Window (1954)
• Sleuth (1969)
• Neon Demon, The (2016)
• Left Behind (2014)
• Jade (1995)
• Taxi Driver (1969)
• Raging Bull (1969)
• Goodfellas (1990)
• Hide and Seek (2005)
• War with Grandpa, The (2020)
• Big Wedding, The (2013)
• Good Shepherd, The (2006)
• Jimmy Hollywood (1994)
• (There are no more worst movies of Joe Pesci)
• Antz (1998)
• Alpha Dog (2007)
• Broken Flowers (2005)
• Sliver (1993)
• Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
• Catwoman (2004)

Casino Review

23 Feb 1996

180 minutes

If you like to know where you are with a director, Casino is the movie for you. Placing The Age Of Innocence and Cape Fear to one side for a moment, here we have Scorsese returning to what he knows best, and to the people he loves.

Co-written with GoodFellas screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, and starring the usual suspects in the form of Bobby De Niro and Joe Pesci, you also have the warm reassurance of the presence of many of GoodFellas' character actors, grizzled of visage and twitchy of trigger-finger, Scorsese's mum doing a cameo, Elaine and Saul Bass producing the opening credits, and many recognisable directorial flourishes. Even better for Scorsese fans, within 15 minutes Joe Pesci is stamping on some schmuck's head in a bar, screaming obscenities as a bewildered Robert De Niro looks on with that great quizzical expression of his.

GoodFellas Part II? Well, sort of. Scorsese insists this isn't a mob film, and you can see his point. It tells the - slightly embellished - true story of Sam "Ace" Rothstein (De Niro), a brilliant Mid-West gambler recruited by the wiseguys to run their casino in Vegas, which he proceeds to do with ruthless efficiency. It all sours when his old buddy Nicky Santoro (Pesci in fantastic psycho mode) comes to town and starts throwing his weight around at more or less the same time as Ace makes the one big reckless gamble of his life: persuading sex-bomb hustler Ginger McKenna (Stone) to marry him. This head-strong twosome just add too many maybes into the comfortable set-up, and slowly the easy money-making machine starts to malfunction. Then the baseball bats come out.

This is De Niro's finest hour certainly since GoodFellas and maybe since The King Of Comedy. Onscreen for nearly the whole three-hour running time, he is chillingly logical about his life at first, slowly descending into panic, frustration and violence as things go wrong. He plays it perfectly from start to finish, as indeed do the entire cast. Sharon Stone is a revelation, Pesci is his usual mesmerising self, and if at times the story drags - with too much voiceover and quasi-documentary - the three of them refuse to let go of your nether regions for a second.

If the violence is even more stomach churning than in GoodFellas (check out Pesci's creative use of a vice) and if Scorsese isn't making huge strides in terms of his filmmaking lexicon, this is still a powerful, disturbing and entirely fascinating examination of a specific time and place, and of the nature of the deals we do - with our employers, with our friends, with our lovers.

Related Articles

Movies | 27 09 2019

Movies | 26 09 2019

Movies | 25 09 2019

Movies | 30 08 2019

Movies | 31 07 2019

Movies | 06 04 2017

Casino 1995

• Upload poster

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Susan Stark, Detroit News : Read more

Janet Maslin, New York Times : Of all the bravura visual effects in Martin Scorsese's dazzlingly stylish Casino, it's a glimpse of ordinary people that delivers the greatest jolt. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times : Martin Scorsese is a master filmmaker, so skilled in the manipulation of imagery he might be the most proficient of active American directors. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader : Simultaneously quite watchable and passionless. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly : [Stone] seems to be trying to enter a more passionate movie, where a neurotic gold digger could at least have a good time. By the end of Casino, for all its craftsmanly bravura, you may want to join her. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail : Visually impressive, splendidly performed, thematically significant, this is a movie in full possession of every key cinematic asset except one -- a solid script. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek : It's not the actors' fault that no one is able to break through the film's gorgeous but chilly surface. You watch Casino with respect and appreciation, reveling in its documentary sense of detail. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews : In every way -- from the fantastic sets, rich dialogue, and unapologetic violence to the well-portrayed characters and themes of loyalty and betrayal -- Casino is pure Scorsese. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times : Martin Scorsese's fascinating new film Casino knows a lot about the Mafia's relationship with Las Vegas. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle : It's an ambitious film, but also a scattered, unfocused one. Read more

Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine : So long as Casino stays focused on the excesses -- of language, of violence, of ambition -- in the life-styles of the rich and infamous, it remains a smart, knowing, if often repetitive, spectacle. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out : The result, sadly, is that contradiction in terms, a dull Scorsese movie. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety : Martin Scorsese's intimate epic about money, sex and brute force is a grandly conceived study of what happens to goodfellas from the mean streets when they outstrip their wildest dreams and achieve the pinnacle of wealth and power. Read more

Stage and Cinema

Arts and Entertainment Reviews

Cinema Review: 50 BEST CASINO MOVIES of all time

by Aveline MacQuoid on December 18, 2023

      1. CROUPIER (1998)

Croupier is one of the best casino movies of all time, featuring Clive Owen starring Jack Manfred, an unlucky writer. Manfred’s job is as a croupier at a casino to earn money, giving inspiration for a novel. To further inspire writing, he disobeys a casino’s conduct code, getting caught in a dangerous heist. A popular quote is, ‘Gambling’s not about money… Gambling’s about not facing reality, ignoring the odds.’ Croupier release was two years later & features 3 alternate types, with a 7/10 rating on IMDb and 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.

      2. MOLLY’S GAME (2017)

For crime & drama, watch the 2017 based on a 2014 memoir. Molly’s Game is an American biographical crime drama following Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier running exclusive high-stakes poker games with sports stars, Hollywood royalty, business titans & mobsters. A decade passes & the FBI targets her. The best casino movie saying is, ‘I’d overheard stories about games that folded after one bad night, and I needed this one to keep going.’ It has a 7.4/10 rating on IMDb and 81% on Rotten Tomatoes.

      3. CASINO (1995) 

Starring Robert De Niro, a 1995 crime film adapted from Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas , a Nicholas Pileggi book with an 8.2/10 IMDb rating and 79% Rotten Tomatoes. It’s based on Frank ‘Lefty’ Rosenthal’s story, a Las Vegas casino manager for a Chicago mob. As one of the best films about gambling, it explored Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein, played by De Niro, running a mob-owned Tangiers casino, plus relationships. It teaches casino internal workings: ‘In the casino, the cardinal rule is to keep them playing and coming back. The longer they play, the more they lose.’  

      4. CALIFORNIA SPLIT (1974) 

Next, an American comedy-drama film starring Elliot Gould & George Segal with 87% Rotten Tomatoes and 7.1/10 on IMDb. The 1974 film is based on compulsive gamblers Elliot Gould, a carefree single guy living with two prostitutes & gambling regularly & Bill Denny, a glum betting buddy, usually hanging in casinos & pawn shops. A casino gambling movie quote is, ‘ How long does it take a sweetpea to pee? As long as it takes a pair of dice to crap.’

      5. RAIN MAN (1988) 

Check a 1988 American road drama film and one of the best casino movies of all time starring Tom Cruise for comedy. Charlie Babbit, a selfish, debt-laden car salesman, learns his wealthy father passed, leaving millions to his autistic brother in a trust fund. He breaks his brother out of a mental institution, using savant-level math skills to win while gambling in Las Vegas. It features an 8/10 rating on IMDb and 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.

      6. CASINO ROYALE (2006)

Another option among the best casino films about gambling of all time is an action-adventure James Bond movie, Casino Royale. 2016 spy film starred Daniel Craig as James Bond, a British Secret Service agent with a license to kill. He heads to Madagascar to discover a terrorist financier, Le Chiffre. Bond plays Le Chiffre in a high-stakes poker game at Casino Royale to topple his organization. It gained a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 8/10 on IMDb .

      7. UNCUT GEMS (2019)

Uncut Gems is a crime thriller released in 2019 , starring Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield & Julia Fox. It has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.4/10 on IMDb. It features Howard Ratner, a gambling addict & New York jeweler damaging family & career. His debts increased & collectors closed in, so Ratner focused on making a high-stakes bet to change his life. He said, ‘I made a crazy risk, a gamble, and it’s about to pay off.’ 

      8. OCEAN’S ELEVEN (2001) 

Ocean’s Eleven is an American heist comedy good casino movie about gambling starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia & Brad Pitt, a remake of 1960 Rat Pack film based on Danny Ocean, a charismatic thief & ex-con plotting to rob 3 Vegas casinos simultaneously. He has three rules. Thirdly, ‘Play the game like you’ve got nothing to lose.’ He organizes a team to execute a heist. It received a 7.7/10 IMDb rating and 83% Rotten Tomatoes.

     9. THE CINCINNATI KID (1965) 

The Cincinnati Kid is a 1965 American title about a young poker player during the Great Depression. It gained 87% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.2/10 on IMDb. Eric, ‘The Kid’ Stoner, is played by Steve McQueen and desires to reach the best poker player position. During his quest, he challenges Lancey ‘The Man’ Howard, a ruthless gambler & elite player. Howard told Cincinnati Kid, ‘You’re good, kid, but as long as I’m around, you’re second best. You might as well learn to live with it. ‘

      10. MISSISSIPPI GRIND (2015) 

Mississippi Grind is a 2016 comedy-drama featuring Ben Mendelsohn, Ryan Reynolds & Sienna Miller, written & directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck. As good casino movies about gambling. it explores Gerry, a struggling gambler trying to change his luck & Curtis, a young poker player. Mississippi Grind explores themes of gambling addiction on their road trip to New Orleans. A character’s body language on a gambling table said, ‘Relaxed and Squared. Shoulders that are suddenly relaxed and squared and saying, I am confident’.’ It has a 6.4/10 IMDb rating and 91% Rotten Tomatoes.

      11. WAKE IN FRIGHT (1971)  

Wake in Fright is a 1971 Australian casino movie about gambling a schoolteacher stranded in a town after a bad gambling debt. Violent men in the town threaten him in a comedy series of events. The gambling movie about casino stars Gary Bond, Donald Pleasence & Chips Rafferty, based on a 1961 novel by Kenneth Cook, exploring themes of gambling, alcoholism, toxic masculinity & Australian culture. It has 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.6/10 rating on IMDb.

      12. MAVERICK (1994) 

Maverick is a 1994 Western comedy film starring Mel Gibson, directed by Richard Donner, gaining a 7/10 IMDb rating and 68% Rotten Tomatoes. As in other best casino films about gambling, Maverick explores Bret Maverick, a gambler requiring money to join a poker tournament. He faces various funny challenges, meeting a charming female thief. Based on a 1950s television series created by Roy Huggins, earning a box office of $183,000,000 . With poker, Annabelle asked, ‘How’d you know I was bluffing? I didn’t do any of my tells.’ To which Maverick replied, ‘You held your breath. If you’d been excited, you would have started breathing harder.

      13. HARD EIGHT (1996) 

Hard Eight is a 1996 American crime drama directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, & Samuel L. Jackson. John sits outside a diner daily & encounters Sydney. Sydney gifts John $50, teaching him gambling & embarking to Reno to earn money. It was originally titled Sydney & is based on Cigarettes & Coffee, a short film with 82% Rotten Tomatoes and 7.1/10 on IMDb .

      14. VEGAS VACATION (1997)

Vegas Vacation is a 1997 American comedy, other one in the best casino movies list, fourth installment in National Lampoon’s Vacation film series, with 5.9/10 on IMDb and 15% on Rotten Tomatoes. The director is Stephen Kessler, starring Chevy Chase, Beverley D’Angelo & Randy Quaid. The Griswold family visits Las Vegas for a family vacation. During a vacation, Clark loses money at blackjack & says, ‘I gambled away more money than you’ll ever understand.’ Ellen likes Wayne Newton, Rusty plays dice & Audrey is in nightclubs. It was filmed at the Mirage, including a scene where a character wins at slots.

      15. LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS (1998) 

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a 1998 British black comedy crime written & directed by Guy Ritchie, starring Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher & Nick Moran. Four friends owe money to a mobster, stealing money to repay. The card game is a 3-card brag, an outdated poker type similar to Texas Hold-em Poker, played with 3 cards, not 5. It’s one of the best gambling movies of all time and gained 75% on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.1/10 on IMDb .

      16. THE GAMBLER (1974) 

The Gambler is a 1974 crime drama, another title in the best casino gambling movies list. Starring James Caan, Paul Sorvino & Lauren Hutton, directed by Karel Reisz & an initial in a series. Axel Freed, a New York professor, has a gambling addiction. He loses money, borrowing from his girlfriend, mother & loan sharks. He gambles recklessly, winning at a casino & losing it. Axel Freed once said, ‘I’m not going to lose it. I’m going to gamble it.’ It features a 7.1/10 IMDb rating and 82% Rotten Tomatoes.

      17. THE COOLER (2003) 

The Cooler is a 2003 crime drama based on a ‘cooler’ with 77% Rotten Tomatoes and 6.9/10 on IMDb. Unlucky Bernie Lootz is employed at Shangri La casino as a cooler. A cooler features bad luck, preventing people from winning. He falls for a cocktail waitress, Natalie, who turns his luck to his casino boss’s detriment. When players win, their boss questions why. Bernie replies, ‘I guess I’m having an off day.’ His boss replies, ‘No, no, no. You don’t have off days, Lootz. You’re shitty luck incarnate.’ 

      18. THE BIG SLEEP (1946)

The Big Sleep is a 1946 casino film for gambling lovers noir starring Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall, directed by Howard Hawks. It is based on a detective novel by Raymond Chandler, featuring a wealthy family’s gambling debts. Sternwood hires Marlowe to resolve the gambling debts of Carmen, his daughter. It becomes more complicated as people are murdered, getting Marlowe involved. A movie title is a euphemism for death and features a 7.9/10 rating on IMDb and 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

      19. OCEAN’S THIRTEEN (2007)

The American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh starred George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Al Pacino, Michael Mantell & Ellen Barkin. Danny Ocean leads a gang on a heist after Willy Bank double-crosses the original eleven members. Their focus: beat the house edge. A famous movie line is, ‘Oh, I don’t lose. People who bet on me to lose, lose. And they lose big.’ It has a 70% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 6.9/10 on IMDb.

      20. THE STING (1973)

The Sting is a 1973 American crime caper casino related movie for gambling passion directed by George Roy Hill, starring Paul Newman & Robert Redford, with 8.3/10 on IMDb and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. It explores Johnny Hooker, an aspiring con man in 1936 Chicago . Hooker seeks revenge on Doyle Lonnegan, a crime boss, for a murdered friend. They hatch a complex plan to scam Lonnegan, eventually facing obstacles. It features a plush gambling casino lounge.

      21. DARK CITY (1950)

Dark City is a 1950 American film, another one among the best casino gambling movies noir directed by William Dieterle & Charlton Heston’s Hollywood debut. A stranger in Chicago loses a $5,000 cashier’s check and commits suicide. His psychotic brother focuses on revenge. The stranger lost money after playing a rigged poker game. The exciting casino movie had great quotes, including ‘We’re a great pair: I have no voice, and you have no ear.’   It has a 52% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 6.7/10 on IMDb.

      22. THE HUSTLER (1961)

The Hustler is a 1961 American film exploring Fast Eddie Felson’s journey, a pool hustler challenging a legendary pool player, Minnesota Fats. The director of this best casino movie is Robert Rossen, starring Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott & Piper Laurie & received several Academy Award animations. Popular title among good casino movies list, it also gained an 8/10 IMDb rating and 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. A famous quote is, ‘I beat him all night, and I’m going to beat him all day. I’m the best you’ve ever seen, Fats. I’m the best there is. Now, even if you beat me, I’m still the best.’

      23. ROUNDERS (1998) 

Rounders is a 1998 American drama based on friends focused on winning a high-stakes poker game to pay a debt. John Dahl directed it, starring Matt Damon, Edward Norton & Gretchen Mol. The movie features a professional poker underground of New York & Atlantic City. Mike McDermott loses money in a poker game against a Russian gangster. He attempts to quit, but his friend needs to pay a debt, returning to gambling tables. A good quote is, ‘It’s not about how much you win. It’s about how much you can walk away from.’ It has a 64% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.3/10 on IMDb.

      24. THE COLOR OF MONEY (1986) 

Another pool-based good gambling film about casinos is The Color of Money. 1986 American drama directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Helen Shaver & Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. It is a sequel to the 1961 movie ‘The Hustler’ with a 7/10 rating on IMDb and 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. Following Fast, Eddie Felson, a former pool hustler, decides to admit a pupil & return after retirement. He encounters Vincent Lauria, a talented & green player, proposing a partnership. He teaches Vincent to scam people, but they disagree. Later, they are opponents.

      25. TRICHEURS (1984) 

Tricheurs is a 1984 , as good casino movies about gambling, based on 2 gamblers deciding that to win, cheating is required. It stars Jacques Dutronc & Bulle Ogier and is directed by Barbet Schroeder. The movie explores gambling addiction and compulsive behavior. Eric, a gambling addict, plays roulette & Suzie, a woman in a gambling hell. The couple joins to win & enter a dangerous scheme of professional con artists. The title means ‘Cheaters. ’ It gained a 6.2/10 rating on IMDb.

      26. THE CARD COUNTER (2021)

Another one in the casino movies list, The Card Counter, is a 2021 crime thriller film. Revenge thriller explores a former military interrogator turned gambler, starring Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan & Willem Dafoe, directed by Paul Schrader. It gained a 6.2/10 rating on IMDb and 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. In military prison, William Tell learned to count cards. He partnered with Cirk to seek revenge. A popular saying is, ‘It’s to bet little when you don’t have the advantage and proportionately more when you do.’ 

      27. OWNING MAHOWNY (2003) 

Owning Mahowny is a 2003 series about Brian Molony , a Toronto bank employee embezzling $10 million to pay a gambling debt. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Maury Chaykin, Minnie Driver & John Hurt and is directed by Richard Kwietniowski, with 79% Rotten Tomatoes and 7/10 on IMDb. Received Chlotrudis Award & Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award. Although Dan Mahowny, a bank employee, seems honest to friends & coworkers, he steals pay bookies and bets at casinos. The missing money is impossible to hide, causing his life to spiral.

      28. ATLANTIC CITY (1980) 

As other casino gambling movies of all time, Atlantic City is a 1980 romantic crime film starring Burt Lancaster & Susan Sarandon, directed by Louis Malle. A gangster & aspiring blackjack dealer becomes involved in a dangerous scheme. Sally Matthews (Sarandon) relocates to Atlantic City, becoming a prominent blackjack dealer. Unfortunately, her criminal husband chases her closely behind. She encounters Lou Pascal (Lancaster), a mobster, who saves her & helps her achieve success but leads to trouble. It features a 7.3 rating on IMDb and 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

      29. BUGSY (1991) 

Bugsy is a 1991 biographical crime drama movie following Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel (Warren Beatty), an American mobster leaving New York City to build gambling rackets in Hollywood. Despite having a wife & children, he falls for Virginia Hill (Annette Bening), an actress. He courts her & focuses on building a casino in Las Vegas, eventually landing in trouble. It’s nominated for multiple awards, including Academy Award. Its best dialogue is, ‘I’m talking about Las Vegas, Nevada. I’m talking about a place where gambling is allowed.’ A Rotten Tomatoes rating is 94%, while the IMDb rating is 6.8/10. 

      30. LET IT RIDE (1989)

This 1986 comedy is the next addition to our best casino movies list about gambling, based on a 1979 novel, “Good Vibes” by Jay Cronley, starring Richard Dreyfuss, David Johansen, Teri Garr & Allen Garfield, directed by Joe Pytka. As good casino movies about gambling, it features a nosy cab driver with a hot tip on a racehorse who is becoming a gambling addict. It explores gambling effects on gamblers & families. A memorable saying is, ‘Eight’s the one, I’d stake my life on it.’ It gained a 6.8/10 rating on IMDb but 27% on Rotten Tomatoes.

      31. BIG DEAL AT DODGE CITY (1966) 

Big Deal at Dodge City, or A Big Hand for the Little Lady, is a 1996 American Western one, best films about gambling and casino, directed by Fielder Cook, starring Henry Fonda, Joanna Woodward, Kevin McCarthy, Jason Robards & Paul Ford. It gained a rating o f 7.3/10 on IMDb . It explores an annual high-stakes poker game involving Laredo’s five richest men. A recovering gambling addict is roped into gambling by a lawyer, so his wife helps save the family fortune. A memorable line: Now look, mister, the first rule of the game of poker, whether you’re playing eastern or western rules, or the kind they play at the North Pole, is put up or shut up!’ 

      32. REVOLVER (2005)

Revolver is a 2005 action thriller starring Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Vincent Pastore & Andre Benjamin, written & directed by Guy Ritchie. Jake Green, a gambler, seeks revenge against a crime boss who sent him to prison unjustly. During a prison stint, he learns unbeatable game formulas. Jake humiliates the crime boss when playing, endangering his life. A famous casino movie quote is, ‘Change the rules on what controls you, and you will change the rules on what you can control.’ Its IMDb rating is 6.3/10, but it has 15% Rotten Tomatoes.

      33. 21 (2008)  

2 1 is blackjack’s nickname & a 2008 heist casino movie directed by Robert Luketic, based on the life story of six MIT students turned card-counting experts, winning millions in Las Vegas casinos. It stars Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne & Aaron Yoo & based on Ben Mezrich’s book, Bringing Down the House. It’s a must-watch for blackjack lovers. Ben played Blackjack lastly, in disguise and said, ‘Winner, winner, chicken dinner! There it is. Thank you. God, I love this town. I love this game. And Jim, I might even love you. ’ It got a 36% rating from Rotten Tomatoes and 6.8/10 on IMDb.

      34. LUCKY YOU (2007) 

Lucky You is a 2007 American directed by Curtis Hanson, starring Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore & Robert Duvall, with a 5.9/10 IMDb rating and 28% Rotten Tomatoes. It’s partially inspired by a 1970 George Steven film, The Only Game in Town. A poker player trying to win a Las Vegas tournament is distracted by life problems. Lucky You definitely deserves a place in our best casino movies list. Huck Cheever attempts to balance a love affair & winning a poker world championship game. He plays his father, a poker legend who abandoned his mother. 

      35. BOB LE FLAMBEUR (1955)

Bob Le Flambeur is a 1955 French series directed by Jean-Pierre Melville . A former bank robber, Bob Montagne, played by Roger Duchesne, decides to rob a casino. The black-and-white movie follows Bob, making a dangerous gamble to rob a Deauville. He quickly notices the game’s a scam, everything goes wrong, and police are in close pursuit. It gained a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.6/10 on IMDb .

      36. RAT RACE (2001)

Rat Race is a comedy title among the good gambling films about casinos ever that explores six teams racing from a Las Vegas casino to a Silver City train station, betting on finding $2 million in a storage locker. It stars Breckin Meyer, Jenica Bergere, Cuba Gooding Jr., Carrie Diamond & Rowan Atkinson and is directed by Jerry Zucker. It features a 6.5/10 rating from IMDb and 3.5/5 from Rotten Tomatoes.

      37. PALE FLOWER (1964)

Another casino movie for gambling lover is Pale Flower, a Japanese film noir. A hitman from Yakuza, Muraki, leaves prison & encounters a young woman, Saeko, in an illegal gambling parlor. Pale flower explores gambling, murder & love. Muraki is interested in Saeko & her hedonistic urges but eventually fears she might destroy them both. Its Rotten Tomatoes rating is 92%, while the IMDb rating is 7.7/10.

      38. TWO FOR THE MONEY (2005) 

For sports betting, watch Two for the Money, a 2005 American film following Brandon Lang (Matthew McConaughey). It features a 6.2/10 rating from IMDb and 22% Rotten Tomatoes. A former college football star begins working for a sports gambling bookie played by Al Pacino. Brandon suffered a knee injury, ending his career & turning the bookie’s gambling protégé. Actors include Rene Russo, Carly Pope & Armand Assante. D.J. Caruso directed it. A memorable line is, ‘Most gamblers, when they go to gamble, they go to win. When we gamble, we go to lose. Even when we win, it’s just a matter of time before we give it all back.’ 

      39. HOUSE OF GAMES (1987) 

House of Games is a 1987 neo-noir heist thriller focusing on compulsive gambling themes. As a popular one among the best casino gambling movies, it explores a psychiatrist, Lindsay Crouse, played by Margaret Ford, a best-selling author, led into gambling & con men by a grifter. She’s interested in Mike, played by Joe Mantegna, using skills to read gambling stories. Later, she learns he’s a con man. It’s written & directed by David Mamet, with good lines including, ‘If you wanna win the hand, you’ve gotta stay ‘til the end,’ & ‘You can’t bluff someone who’s not paying attention.’ It has a 97% Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.2/10 IMDb rating.

      40. WIN IT ALL (2017) 

Win It All is a 2017 series among good gambling movies about casinos, following a gambler stashing an acquaintance’s bag while the latter’s in prison. He discovers cash & can’t resist gambling urges, ending up in debt. His acquaintance is released, giving him a short time to win money. It’s directed & co-written by Joe Swanberg and stars Jake Johnson & Rony Shemon. A quote sums up gambling luck, ‘An hour ago, you were a loser. Now, you’re a winner. And we all know how that ends.’ It features a 6.2/10 rating from IMDb and 85% Rotten Tomatoes.

      41. LAY THE FAVORITE (2012) 

Lay the Favorite is a 2012 American comedy-drama, one of the great gambling movies about casino written by D.V. DeVincentis & directed by Stephen Frears. It stars Bruce Willis, Rebecca Hall, Joshua Jackson & Catherine Zeta-Jones, based on Beth Raymer’s 2010 memoir. A former dancer, Beth aspires to be a Las Vegas cocktail waitress. She falls for Dink, a sports gambler becoming a gambling prodigy. An impressive quote is, ‘It’s always a risk when no one gambles.’ Its approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 18%, while the IMDb rating is 4.8/10.

      42. THE GRAND (2008) 

The Grand is a 2008 improv comedy, another one of the best casino movies. It follows a middle-aged man in a poker tournament to save his grandfather’s hotel-casino. It stars Woody Harrelson as Jack Faro, a former poker champion & casino legend’s grandson. Jack loses everything to alimony & liquor and must win the $10 million prize at a World Championship of Poker. The mockumentary features interviews introducing wacky characters & no script for the poker game segments, giving it an authentic vibe. It has a 5.9/10 rating on IMDb and 40% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

      43. HAVANA (1990) 

Havana is a 1990 drama based on a professional gambler, Jack Weil, played by Robert Redford. He visited Havana, Cuba, in 1958 as a high-rolling poker player & met Lena Olin, a wealthy woman supporting Fidel Castro. The director is Sydney Pollack, featuring music by Dave Grusin & nominated for Academy Awards in 1991 . In the gambling films about casino, Jack says, ‘I try to keep the gambling to a minimum.’ Duran asks, ‘How do you do that?’ And Jack replies, ‘By being good at it.’ The rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 27%, and 6.1/10 on IMDb .

      44. HIGH ROLLER: THE STU UNGAR STORY (2003) 

A 2003 biopic based following Stu Ungar, an American professional poker & gin player. It explores how Ungar, nicknamed ‘The Kid’, turned into a gambling superstar. By age 10, he won millions thrice playing card games and the World Series of Poker. Michael Imperioli plays Stu Ungar, plus various cameos from prominent figures in sports and poker, including Vince Van Patten, Al Bernstein, and Andy Glazer. As in the be st films about gambling and casino, famous saying is, ‘See, life is a people game too.’ The rating is 6/10 on IMDb and 55% on Rotten Tomatoes.

      45. POOLHALL JUNKIES (2002) 

Poolhall Junkies is a 2002 comedy thriller and the best casino movie about a pool hustler helping his brother who gets involved with his enemy. He is a compulsive gambler who eventually overcame his obsession. It is renowned for the Lion Speech: A lion lives in the heart of every brave man. He enters a pool, shooting to save his brother. One quote is, ‘Beating a man out of his money, that’s easy. Anybody can do that. But beating a man out of his money and making him like it… that’s an art. That’s the art of a true hustler.’ It stars Mars Callahan, Chazz Palminteri, and Christopher Walken and is co-written & directed by Mars Callahan . It has 33% on Rotten Tomatoes and 6.8/10 on IMDb.

      46. HONEYMOON IN VEGAS (1992) 

Honeymoon in Vegas, a 1992 romantic comedy film and one of the best casino movies starring Nicolas Cage, James Caan & Sarah Jessica Parker, written & directed by Andrew Bergman. Jack Singer (Cage) loses $65,000 in poker . He lends his fiancée, Betsy, to a professional gambler to pay his debts. Betsy falls for the gambler, causing Singer to attempt to win her heart again. It’s a fun, lighthearted casino movie, with a 5.9/10 rating on IMDb and 64% on Rotten Tomatoes.

      47. BOOKIES (2003) 

Learn more bookmaking knowledge with 2 023 German comedy thriller casino movie Bookies. Four college friends, eventually becoming small-scale bookies, played Nick Stahl, Johnny Galecki, Lukas Haas & Rachael Leigh Cook. They’re tired of losing money on sports bets and start a bookmaking business. The operation gains success, but local mobsters attempt to shut them down. As other best casino movies about gambling, it features 67% Rotten Tomatoes and 5.9/10 on IMDb.

      48. THE BIG TOWN (1987) 

For forbidden romance & gambling, watch The Big Town. The 1987 good casino movies title explores a young man moving to Chicago, aiming for a professional gambling career. He features unbeatable luck & falls for a gangster’s wife and another woman simultaneously. The gambling movie’s director is Ben Bolt, starring Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, Tommy Lee Jones & Suzy Amis. Set in 1957 Chicago & a ‘The Big Arm’ adaptation. A fun fact is a film crew member always bet the same amount against Matt Dillon, canceling wins & losses. It has a 5.9/10 rating on IMDb and 50% on Rotten Tomatoes.

      49. COLD DECK (2015) 

Cold Deck, a 2015 Canadian thriller starring Stefano Gallo, Robert Knepper, and Paul Sorvino, Zack Bernbaum directed, explores a compulsive gambler, Bobby, who becomes broke & miserable after a losing streak. He partners with a friend to rob a popular underground poker game. His mother gets ill and tired & he racks a giant debt. He eventually notices a sadist running the game. The poker games are authentic, with murder & violence themes. It has 16% on Rotten Tomatoes and 5.1/10 on IMDb . 

      50. GAMBLING CITY (1975)

Gambling City, a 1975 Italian polizieschi good gambling films about casinos ever , starred Luc Merenda, Dayle Haddon, Enrico Maria Salerno & Corradi Pani, directed by Sergio Martino. A professional gambler, poker & cardsharping master falls for his boss’s daughter. A memorable dialogue is when Warden asks, ‘Now, you’re a gambling man, aren’t you?’ And Dolemite replied, ‘Depends on the game, Warden, and how high the stakes are.’ It features a 6.5/10 rating on IMDb and 46% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

The article was written and developed by a Senior Business Project Manager of Freeslotshub. On the website, he provided a wide selection of games with popular film heroes on the page with movie slots that are available online with no downloading for users all over the world.

Share this post:

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

JJust went through Stage and Cinema’s top 50 casino movies list. It’s a real mix! You’ve got the intense drama of ‘Casino’ and the slick action of ‘Ocean’s Eleven.’ Surprised to see ‘Rain Man’ in there – not your typical casino movie, but a great addition. The list covers everything from the glitz and glamor to the strategy and personal stories behind the casino world. It’s got classics and some I’ve never heard of, which is exciting. Definitely broadened my watchlist. It’s not just a list; it’s a journey through the diverse world of casino movies. Can’t wait to start watching!

This casino movie list? Not impressed. Missed some key films. Feels more like a random pick than a curated best-of.

Just scrolled through that casino movie list on Stage and Cinema. ‘Casino Royale’ and ‘The Sting’ are there – absolute classics! It’s pretty cool seeing the mix, from old-school vibes to the new high-stakes dramas. For anyone who’s into movies or casinos, this list is a solid gold find.

Leave a Comment

• Art and Museums
• Concerts / Events
• Theater-Boston
• Theater-Chicago
• Theater-D.C.
• Theater-International
• Theater-Las Vegas
• Theater-Los Angeles
• Theater-New York
• Theater-Palm Springs (Coachella Valley)
• Theater-Regional
• Theater-San Diego
• Theater-San Francisco / Bay Area
• Privacy Statement

Search reviews by title or key words.

Please help keep stage and cinema going, while we assert that it’s time to rethink the existence of facebook, here’s our page, casino reviews betsquare.

Skip to main content

• Life & style
• Environment

What You Need To Know:

(NA, LLL, VVV, SSS, NNN, A, D, M, Ab) Pagan worldview extoling gangsterism; 553 obscenities, 17 profanities & 3 blasphemies; ultra-extreme violence including stabbing a man with a pen with bloodshed, kicking, beating, many execution deaths, suffocation, pounding a man's hand with a hammer, breaking every bone in a man's body with a baseball bat, burying a man alive, blowing men up, ramming man's head through door, slowly crushing a man's head in a vice, & other extreme mafia violence; fornication, adultery, fellatio, [[[{{{Remember to use one comma when there is a sequence of 3 items and a comma after every item when there is a sequence of 4 or more: "1, 2 and/or 3," or "1, 2, 3, and/or 4, or more"}}}]]] & lots of sexual suggestiveness & prostitution; full female nudity & partial male nudity; heavy cocaine use, alcohol consumption, barbiturates, smoking, & other drugs; gambling, theft, extortion, stealing, skimming, cooking the books, & cheating; and, plastic Jesus & associating Las Vegas with Lourdes.

More Detail:

CASINO is three hour look at gangsters in Las Vegas from 1973 to 1983. Ace Rothstein (Robert De Niro) runs the Tangiers casino. Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) provides muscle. Ace is sent to The Tangiers by the mafia bosses in Kansas City to make the casino produce the maximum profits for them. Ace informs us that everybody is skimming, and everybody is watching everybody else skim. In the midst of this corruption, Ace notices Ginger (Sharon Stone), whose greed is so pronounced that he falls for her. She tells Ace that she doesn’t love him, but he buys her affection and they marry. As time passes, Ginger grows to hate Ace, falls into an alcohol/drug craze and runs away with her pimp boyfriend several times. Eventually, the FBI closes in on the mob, and the mob silences everyone who can talk. In the end, Ace complains about the big corporations taking over Las Vegas and waxes eloquent about the good old days when the mob ran the town.

As far as gangsters movie goes, this is Martin Scorsese trying to one up his classic expose, GOODFELLAS: the violence is more vile; the soullessness is more pronounced; and, the evil is more pervasive. CASINO is a textbook on sin telling you how, when, where and why to do it. The problem is that this movie has no conscience and no heart. Wise Americans will avoid the company of CASINO.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

FILM REVIEW

FILM REVIEW; Born for Gambling, in a Casino and Metaphysically

By Stephen Holden

• April 21, 2000

Even while wearing the poker face that is an occupational necessity for his juicy title role in Mike Hodges's film ''Croupier,'' Clive Owen conveys a sharp, cynical intelligence that rolls off the screen in waves whenever he widens his glittering blue eyes. Mr. Owen's character, Jack Manfred, spends much of the movie dealing cards and raking in chips at a posh London casino where he takes a malicious pleasure in observing the well-heeled punters (gamblers) who flock around his table, compulsively throwing away their money. But the pressure for Jack to maintain an impermeable mask takes its toll; by the end of an evening, the accumulated tension leaves him a frayed, quivering wreck.

Although Mr. Owen bears fleeting resemblances to Dylan McDermott, Nicolas Cage and Bruce Willis, the actor he most strongly recalls is the young Michael Caine, who purveyed a similarly offbeat blend of iciness and affability three decades ago. Not coincidentally, Mr. Caine starred in the 1971 British cult classic thriller ''Get Carter,'' directed by Mr. Hodges. That film is widely regarded as a forerunner of such gangster movies as ''The Long Good Friday'' and ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.'' ''Croupier,'' filmed by Mr. Hodges from a screenplay by Paul Mayersberg, shows that the director hasn't lost his knack for whip-smart, tongue-in-cheek suspense.

More than just a smoothly plotted casino-based thriller with a surprise ending, ''Croupier,'' which is narrated by Jack (and sometimes by his fictional alter ego, Jake), is a breezy meditation on life as a game of chance. One of the jokes of this coolheaded film is that Jack, for all his lofty attitudinizing about gambling, is not as detached from its mentality as he likes to imagine. Although a resolute nongambler, he is profoundly infected by the games he oversees. And by the end of the movie, he has begun spouting out the numerical odds of this or that happening in his life.

Jack, who fancies himself a budding novelist, was born in South Africa and lives in London with his fiancee, Marion Neil (Gina McKee), a department store detective. Infatuated with the notion of living with a writer, Marion isn't thrilled when his new job takes him away not only from literature but also from her. (He has to leave for work about the time she gets home.)

But writing fiction, the movie suggests, is just another form of gambling, one that depends on choosing the right subject matter and, most important, the catchiest possible book title. Giles Cremorne (Nick Reding), the publisher with whom Jack plays professional footsie, is every serious writer's nightmare of an editor as playboy and marketing maven with a contempt for literature. It was in South Africa, where Jack was literally born in a gambling palace, that he learned card dealing as a child from his father, a casino operator. Although Jack despises gambling and the fools caught in its spell, he needs money to support his writing. And when his father arranges for him to work as a croupier, he jumps at the opportunity. As the fleet-fingered Jack likes to boast, he has the hands of either a conjurer or a card shark.

At his job interview, Jack is informed of house rules that forbid his dating fellow staff members or socializing with punters. Inspired by Matt (Paul Reynolds), a misanthropic colleague and flagrant rule-breaker, his virtue quickly erodes. He is seduced by Bella (Kate Hardie), a waitress in the casino, and allows himself to be sucked into a scheme by Jani de Villiers (Alex Kingston), a glamorous, amoral punter he squires to a debauched weekend at Giles's country estate. For each ethical lapse, Jack invents a slippery rationalization. The movie builds almost haphazardly to a climax that makes a sharp sideways turn and defies expectations by not being the usual cut-and-dried upshot.

''Croupier,'' which opens today at the Loews State Theater, isn't the most tightly constructed movie (or an especially realistic one), despite its crisp performances and its detailed inside portrait of casino life. In the end, it suggests a lighter, less stylized British answer to David Mamet's ''House of Games,'' which like ''Croupier'' also played a joke on the central character and on the audience. Here, the mood is more whimsical than vengeful.

Directed by Mike Hodges; written by Paul Mayersberg; director of photography, Mike Garfath; edited by Les Healey; music by Simon Fisher Turner; production designer, Jon Bunker; produced by Jonathan Cavendish; released by Shooting Gallery. At the Loews State, Broadway at 45th Street. Running time: 89 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Clive Owen (Jack Manfred), Kate Hardie (Bella), Alex Kingston (Jani de Villiers), Gina McKee (Marion Neil), Alexander Morton (David Reynolds), Nick Reding (Giles Cremorne) and Paul Reynolds (Matt).

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Civil War Link to Civil War
• Monkey Man Link to Monkey Man
• The First Omen Link to The First Omen

New TV Tonight

• Chucky: Season 3
• Fallout: Season 1
• Mr Bates vs The Post Office: Season 1
• Franklin: Season 1
• Baby Reindeer: Season 1
• Dora: Season 1
• Good Times: Season 1
• Beacon 23: Season 2

Most Popular TV on RT

• Ripley: Season 1
• 3 Body Problem: Season 1
• Parasyte: The Grey: Season 1
• Shōgun: Season 1
• Sugar: Season 1
• A Gentleman in Moscow: Season 1
• We Were the Lucky Ones: Season 1
• The Gentlemen: Season 1
• The Regime: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• Fallout Link to Fallout
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Best Movies of 2024: Best New Movies to Watch Now

25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

CinemaCon 2024: Day 2 – Universal Showcases Nosferatu , Twisters , Wicked , and More

Fallout First Reviews: A ‘Violent, Fun, Emotional, Epic’ Video Game Adaptation, Critics Say

• Trending on RT
• Play Movie Trivia

2021, Drama, 2h 30m

Rate And Review

Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)

You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

Step 2 of 2

How did you buy your ticket?

Let's get your review verified..

AMCTheatres.com or AMC App New

Cinemark Coming Soon

We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

Regal Coming Soon

Theater box office or somewhere else

By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.

You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

Casino   photos.

Events revolving around the control of a political dynasty, economic wealth of a state and family business which fosters infidelity, assault, seduction and betrayal.

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 2h 30m

Cast & Crew

Funsho Adeolu

Mofe Duncan

Ayo Adesanya

Critic Reviews for Casino

Audience reviews for casino.

There are no featured reviews for Casino because the movie has not released yet ().

Movie & TV guides

Play Daily Tomato Movie Trivia

Discover What to Watch

Rotten Tomatoes Podcasts