For at least the first 15 minutes, there is barely a pause in the narrational dialogue. It's remarkable that the narration works as well as it does, especially because a lot of it is given a rapid-fire delivery. The aim was probably to include a lot more of Pileggi's book, in a more literal way, than would have been possible through more conventional means. The most prominent oddity is that a large chunk of it is told via alternated narration from the two main characters, Rothstein and Santoro. It's roughly a gradual road to destruction for everyone involved. Casino is the story of the relationship and political problems that this cast of characters and a number of associates run into. Meanwhile, mob strong-arm Nicky Santoro (Pesci) heads out to Vegas to protect Rothstein, but eventually ends up running his own rackets and trying to effectively take over the town. He falls in love with and marries former hooker/call-girl and current Vegas hustler Ginger McKenna (Stone), who remains in love with her pimp, Lester Diamond (Woods).

The mob backs Rothstein but has to set up a false front while Rothstein 'secretly' runs the hotel, because of his gambling charges back East. The hotel became the Tangiers for the film. The Rosenthal character is here named Sam 'Ace' Rothstein and is played by De Niro. Casino is based on the story of Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal and the Stardust casino in Las Vegas.

There are plenty of flaws here, and I'm going to spend some time pointing them out, particularly since the film receives so many 10's. An 8 out of 10 may seem high, but if you're familiar with my reviews, you'll know that it's not that high of a score from me-it's closer to average from me. But I don't think that Casino is at all a 'perfect' film. I'm a huge De Niro fan, and I'm a fan of Scorsese and Woods as well. If you're at all interested in gangster/mafia films, or if you're at all a fan of director/co-writer Martin Scorsese, novelist/co-writer Nicholas Pileggi, or actors Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone or James Woods, then Casino is without a doubt a must-see.

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