This movie starts off with the main star being blown up in a damn car. That was my introduction to the movie Casino. I somehow never got around to seeing this which shocked L. So we watched this three hour movie over two days. This starts off in the early 70's where this dude Ace is sent by the mob back in Chicago to run Tangiers. He sends them money every month and everyone is happy because he is very good at his job. One day his friend Nicky shows up and he is like “I can do a lot of bad shit here and get away with it!” Ace is like “Chill. This is not Chicago. FBI and cops will get you.” Nicky is like “Bet” and almost immediately starts fucking things up by doing assaults and robberies. Nicky brings in his friend and younger to help him ruin lives. Nicky is drawing all kinds of attention but Ace can't have him sent home or killed because he is Jewish and not truly gonna be a part of the gang.
One day Ace sees this lady Ginger causing a ruckus in the casino and falls in love with her. He shouldn't have because it is a damn mess. She is a former showgirl, current con artist, and former prostitute. She stays in touch with her former boyfriend/pimp named Lester. This dude is a super scumbag but she can not stay away from him. One day she takes $25,000 and will not say what she used it for. Turns out she gave it to Lester and one day Ace shows up while they are having lunch and shames the fuck out of both of them before having Lester attacked outside as Ginger screams for them to stop. She starts confiding in Nicky not knowing he was the one that told Ace where Ginger and Lester were. And by confided they get nasty together. I was grossed out watching them go at it. Did not need to witness that.
Ace fires this slot machine manager and it all ends up making his life even worse. Everyone in power knows someone else in power and/are related to someone powerful. So when Ace refuses to give this guy his job back it bites him in the ass and has his license looked up. He even goes to a hearing and they decide to pass on him before he and his lawyers can even speak. Ace ends up hosting a weird ass TV show because he wants to get his word out. Nicky and Ginger are getting together and end up caught on camera by the FBI. Nicky is also getting more violent and sloppy with his crimes and murders. The FBI finds a book with names and all kinds of evidence because a guy named Artie kept records of things because he was mad and petty. He has a heart attack and dies just as soon as they arrest him.
Ginger kidnaps their daughter (forgot to mention that Ace and Ginger have a daughter) even after tying her to the bed while Ginger went out partying. She is a mess and ends up overdosing in LA. Oh, and she went through this two million that Ace had put aside in case he was held ransom or something else bad. So to wrap all this up, Ace gets blown up in his car but survives. Nicky and his brother are beaten to death with baseball bats and buried in a cornfield. Ginger dead. Its a mess. The crazy thing about this whole story is that things could've turned out good. Good isn't the right word to use when it comes to gambling and crime. Things could have gone smoother for way longer if it were not for Nicky being insane. Ginger not knowing when to stop. And Ace not knowing when the quit. Like, everyone had a game that they were playing but there was no end goal. Nothing to say “I finally won!” It was just take take take until you lose. This was a good ass movie.
Robert De Niro as Sam "Ace" 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
Kevin Pollak as Phillip Green
L. Q. Jones as Pat Webb
Dick Smothers as Senator Harrison Roberts
Frank Vincent as Frank Marino
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