Watch Casino | Prime Video – amazon.com

It's very difficult to decide a 'favorite' Scorsese movie. You could look at Goodfellas or Raging Bull and say they were perfect films. In that it's hard to imagine it possible they could have been executed better, or made more entertaining. Casino, is not as acclaimed as those films, but in my view is every bit deserving as being one of the best films of the decade.

I would argue that De Niro and Pesci's performances in Casino are every bit as good, as in Casino as in Goodfellas (of course, they are playing similar characters) - but De Niro's Ace Rothstein is not a criminal at heart - like De Niro in Goodfellas, or Pesci in both films. He's a complex character, played just brilliantly by DeNiro. Very much a regular guy, with a special gift for numbers and gambling. His reward, 'paradise on earth'. He's rich, protected by the mob, and has his pick of any showgirl in Vegas - and throws it all away.

While Ace Rothstein is a regular guy (somewhat) posing as a gangster, Pesci's Nicky Santoro is a gangster posing as a regular guy. Pesci is full-on gangster Pesci, and not much needs to be said here. Completely convincing as a sociopath. I find the little things stand out and I particularly enjoyed Pesci's Chicago accent in this character.

You also can't say enough good things about Sharon Stone's Oscar quality (was nominated, won Golden Globe in 1995) performance. Charming, Sexy, Glamourous, Broken, and completely dangerous to any man, who tells Rothstein quite plainly 'you've got the wrong girl'.

This is a well liked film among many, and at the same time, one of the most underrated films of the decade of the 1990s. It's that good.

Continue reading here:

Watch Casino | Prime Video - amazon.com