☆★☆★☆★☆★
Ebert’s four-star review is discussed alongside Siskel’s disagreement.
In the discussion (2)
- Ebert awarded Casino four stars.
- Siskel’s less enthusiastic response is contrasted.
Madonna, Nicole Kidman, Melanie Griffith, Traci Lords, and Sharon Stone’s audition history are discussed.
In the discussion (6)
- Madonna says the role came down to her and Sharon Stone.
- Nicole Kidman was considered.
- Melanie Griffith was considered.
- Traci Lords reportedly gave an impressive audition.
- Sharon Stone’s repeatedly canceled auditions and Scorsese’s personal appeal are recounted.
- The panel prefers Stone to the alternatives.
Diane Lane, Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Scarlett Johansson are proposed around Nicky’s wife and Ginger.
In the discussion (4)
- Diane Lane is proposed for Nicky’s wife.
- Madonna is proposed for Nicky’s wife after losing the Ginger role.
- Lady Gaga is proposed for Ginger.
- Match Point-era Scarlett Johansson is proposed for Ginger.
Research covers real people, costumes, a murder attempt, profanity, improv, sets, ribs, cigarettes, restaurants, and high rollers.
In the discussion (15)
- Frank Cullotta served as technical adviser and appeared as a hitman.
- The costume budget was one million dollars, with 70 De Niro outfits and 40 Stone outfits.
- Joe Pesci’s then-wife Claudia Haro was later convicted in an attempted-murder scheme against another ex-husband.
- The film uses the F-word 435 times.
- James Woods improvised dialogue and the detail that Lester was with a prostitute using cocaine during the wedding call.
- The count-room set was constructed because productions are not allowed into a real count room.
- Frank Rosenthal’s television-show guests included Sinatra, Hope, Liberace, O. J. Simpson, and Rickles.
- Pesci suffered a rib injury during the cornfield sequence.
- De Niro maintained cigarette length for continuity.
- Piero’s restaurant stood in for the Leaning Tower.
- Future Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman appears as an attorney.
- Nobu Matsuhisa plays Ichikawa.
- Akio Kashiwagi’s casino debts and murder are discussed.
- Ace’s house was later bought by Suge Knight.
- Frank Rosenthal’s later nightclub, online-betting, and family life are summarized.
Lester, security deposits, girlfriends, commission relatives, shootings, deposits, jewelry, and trust in Ginger produce distinct nitpicks.
In the discussion (8)
- Ace not killing Lester is questioned.
- Giving Ginger sole access to a two-million-dollar security deposit is questioned.
- Ace’s lack of another girlfriend before Ginger is questioned.
- Nicky not killing the county commissioner’s relative is debated.
- The physical staging of public shootings is questioned.
- Ginger withdrawing the deposit while police watch is questioned.
- The film’s jewelry includes pieces from the wrong decades.
- Ace trusting Ginger with everything is identified as the story’s core practical problem.
The pen victim, car bomb, and Frank Vincent’s alignment drive the questions.
In the discussion (3)
- Did the man stabbed repeatedly with the pen die?
- Who planted the bomb in Ace’s car?
- Why does Frank Vincent’s character turn on Nicky?