Whether you are a gambler or not, casinos have a special kind of euphoria that can make people feel like they are on top of the world. The twinkly lights, booming noises and the smell of delicious food create a manufactured blissful experience that keeps people coming back for more. This is the reason that casinos use various tactics to keep players engaged, including near-wins (i.e., when a player gets close to hitting the jackpot) and simulated cheering from other players, even though those other players are not actually winning.

Unlike Goodfellas, which was more streamlined, Casino is a rich and dense film that gives Robert De Niro one of his finest performances and gives Sharon Stone a career-defining role. While wives and girlfriends have dotted many of Scorsese’s films, this is the first time that a female character has had a major impact on the narrative. The movie is also more complex in terms of its portrayal of the mob hierarchy than the previous film, and the interactions between Sam and Nicky are much more layered and mature than those between Tommy and Jimmy in Goodfellas.

The film’s narrative is augmented by expert research, especially from Nicholas Pileggi, who had full access to a man who ran four casinos for the mafia and whose true story inspired this movie. Using a documentary style, this film makes us feel as if we are eavesdropping on the conversations that are taking place behind the scenes in Las Vegas.