Casino - a mob house of cards

 ".....you said I'm bringing heat on YOU?
I gotta listen to people because of your fuckin shit? You're orderin me out? You better get your own fuckin army pal"



I like Goodfellas, but in many ways Casino is more approachable. Joe Pesci's character Nicky Santoro is ruthless, homicidal, and violence-happy. But he had a duality. He cared for his friends, family and possessed loyalty. You could see a dynamic personality that makes him engaging, and at many times quite humorous.

I read another review and it's way better written than I will write here. But I just want to address some points. This is more about thoughts than it is a review. Casino took the viewer on a voyage through the Casino business as if a reformed Wiseguy described the inner workings in a Discovery Channel documentary he is hosting. I doubt they'd do any better. The movie showed you that it was essentially running but needed a good manager to bring in more money to allow the "skim" to bring in more money, and showed how card by card, it got brought down. Greed, sex, violence, dysfunction, corruption, and addictions all played their part.

While the mob bosses far removed from the glittering lights work behind the scenes in corruption that makes them a lot of money, the county commissioners work on their own corruption when they don't get what they want.

We could go on all day describing in detail how Ginger brought the entire enterprise down. But the fact that it's a given that the casino operation was destroyed by a dysfunctional, addicted, emotionally scarred, hustling woman is not a stretch of the imagination. But it wasn't just her.

What makes the movie humorous is how the FBI got what they wanted when a mob Lieutenant complains too much and doesn't seem to know when to shut up. The crap he complains about aren't even his problem. They start from him not being reimbursed for his travel from Kansas City to Vegas. How hard is it to politely ask your boss, even if he is a mob boss, to get reimbursed for the travel expenses? It also illustrates that these wiseguys may be putting their faith in the wrong people simply because they toe the line in their organization. Piscano already demonstrated he needed a map, diagram and step by step instructions on doing the task of going to the casino and grabbing the skim money. How hard is that to do when you're in is being a bigger fish in the mob ocean? 

So the mob screws up with trusting a guy "who could fuck up a cup of coffee." But where they don't screw up is having people whacked when it comes down to the bosses possibly going to the slammer. They are a bit too good at this.

But fortunately Ace comes out okay. Almost got whacked but his car saved his life and that was the only time anyone was going to try. In a way, it's like the movie showed two paths: Ace, though a control freak, cares about people. His daughter and even Ginger and Nicky. That good nature allowed him to see the sun rise and fall after the house of cards came down. Nicky's ruthless and gutsy ambition led him to an early grave.