Casino is a gangster movie with plenty of compelling themes. Its main premise is that the glitz of Las Vegas is built on vice, and the town has a lot of skeletons in its closet. While movies like Goodfellas do a great job of exploring the interplay between a criminal’s profession and his or her turbulent personal life, Casino takes things a step further. It provides viewers with a glimpse of real Vegas history and culture, while also illustrating that no one stays at the top forever.

Robert De Niro is brilliant as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, and Sharon Stone delivers her best performance as Ginger. Her character is a big step for female characters in Scorsese films. She is a smart and savvy woman, who knows how to use her looks to her advantage. The film also showcases her ability to be the “bad girl” and how she can manipulate people. She’s the type of person who can go into a casino and steal 25 percent of the slot machine take – something which is incredibly hard to do.

Casino also does a good job of illustrating how casinos cheat their patrons. For example, the way in which they skim money from other games and food service is very real. Then there is the fact that they purposefully make it difficult to see the clocks on the floor, so players lose track of time and continue playing longer than they should. This is a common strategy that the house uses to maximize their profits.