Flick of The Day: Casino

The relationship between director Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro goes back a long way and is perhaps one of the most fruitful in recent film history. Starting with Mean Streets in 1973 and including such classics as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and past flick of the day Goodfellas. Thus far their final and eight collaboration is today's flick of the day, Casino, an epic telling of the rise and fall of the Mafia in Las Vegas in the 1970's and 80's.

Casino 

Based on a true story, Casino attempts over the course of nearly three hours to tell the life and times of three characters central to the story of the American Mafia in the Las Vegas casino industry. Robert De Niro is Ace Rothstein, a masterful gambler and tipster who after a successful career making money bookmaking for the mob is sent to Las Vegas to take over the running of their new prize, the Teamsters funded Tangiers Casino. Joe Pesci is Nicky Santoro, a vicious thug with an eye for making money who is sent to Vegas to keep Ace safe. Finally there is Sharon Stone, as the coked out hooker Ginger McKenna, Ace's partner of choice and a woman with little or no redeeming features and a lust for money and jewels. In comparison to the other two, Ace is a model citizen by Vegas standards and out to run a fair game and make the Tangiers the best house in town. Shot with the feel of a docu-drama, although perhaps the best acted one ever, it gives the film the feeling of one long anecdote about the city. The film is littered with voice-over dialogue as Ace and Nicky feel their way first to success before the inevitable overreach and ultimately a bloody and disastrous end. 

On its release in 1995 hopes were high for Casino bringing together as it did the team that had created Goodfellas in 1990, still one of the all time great gangster pictures. While this is not in the same league as that film, it has moments of genuine greatness. An explosive (literally) opening credits set the scene perfectly and promise much. It as much about Vegas in the 70's as it is about the characters and again I come back to the docu-drama feel. There is just so much detail of the period packed in that it can be at times overwhelming. Roughly the opening 90 minutes detail the rise to power of Ace and Nicky with Ace building the biggest and best casino in town and Nicky taking an iron grip of the underbelly of the city while the second half details the downfall as the FBI and the gaming authorities crack down. It is with typical Scorsese flair that the minutiae of  how the mob skimmed money out of a supposedly legitimate business are played out.

While De Niro and Pesci give typically bravura performances and Stone achieves the dubious honour of being perhaps the most annoying screen character of all time, ultimately this doesn't satisfy in the same manner as some of their earlier collaborations. Perhaps it is just a case of excess in every area of the film. It is more violent than Goodfellas or Taxi Driver to a sometimes shocking degree, it carries an epic running length of 3 hours and a level of detail in its examination of a period in Vegas history. I suppose I am saying it is less than the sum of its parts. Perhaps that is too negative because when the film is at its best, it is very good indeed. It just isn't the classic it promised to be.

All in all, a very entertaining piece of cinema history containing perhaps the last collaboration between two of the all time greats. It perfectly captures a time and a place while the period costumes and sets are easy on the eye, the kind of technically gifted film-making that Scorsese is the master of. Each of the leads captures their characters to a tee and if ultimately it isn't a classic, it is an enjoyable 3 hours.

Flick of The Day: GoodFellas

The gangster movie has been a cornerstone of cinema since before there was a Hollywood. From early classics like Little Caesar and The Public Enemy in the 1930's to Coppola's The Godfather and Scorsese's Mean Streets in the 70's, it has always been a popular genre. It begs an obvious question, what is the best gangster film of them all? I think the answer to that question is today's flick of the day Martin Scorsese's GoodFellas.

GoodFellas

Based on the bestselling book by Nicholas Pileggi, this is the true story of a life in the Mafia. It follows the course of Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta, a half Irish half Sicilian who becomes involved with the mob first as an after school job before blossoming into a fully formed gangster, a GoodFella. He falls under the spell of Jimmy Conway, a rising star of the family, played by Robert De Niro and befriends a crazy hot head called Tommy DeVito played by Joe Pesci. Set to a fantastic period soundtrack, the film moves from the early 50's to the 70's to the bitter end of it all in 1980. Together, the three work various scams and heists for local chieftain Paulie Cicero, a star turn from Paul Sorvino. Like all the great stories, this is the story of the rise and fall.

Scorsese has created a work of stunning breadth and ambition. It comes in at nearly 150 minutes and yet breezes by such is the speed and focus of the editing. There are so many high points that they can't be listed from the single continuous take entrance to a nightclub to the snappy quotable dialogue and the vast cast of characters that remain memorable such is the strength of the script.

Henry Hill: You're a pistol, you're really funny. You're really funny. 

Tommy DeVito: What do you mean I'm funny? 

Henry Hill: It's funny, you know. It's a good story, it's funny, you're a funny guy. 

[laughs] 

Tommy DeVito: What do you mean, you mean the way I talk? What? 

Henry Hill: It's just, you know. You're just funny, it's... funny, the way you tell the story and everything. 

Tommy DeVito: [it becomes quiet] Funny how? What's funny about it? 

Anthony Stabile: Tommy no, You got it all wrong. 

Tommy DeVito: Oh, oh, Anthony. He's a big boy, he knows what he said. What did ya say? Funny how? 

Henry Hill: Jus... 

Tommy DeVito: What? 

Henry Hill: Just... ya know... you're funny. 

Tommy DeVito: You mean, let me understand this cause, ya know maybe it's me, I'm a little fucked up maybe, but I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny? 

Henry Hill: Just... you know, how you tell the story, what? 

Tommy DeVito: No, no, I don't know, you said it. How do I know? You said I'm funny. How the fuck am I funny, what the fuck is so funny about me? Tell me, tell me what's funny! 

Henry Hill: [long pause] Get the fuck out of here, Tommy! 

Tommy DeVito: [everyone laughs] Ya motherfucker! I almost had him, I almost had him. Ya stuttering prick ya. Frankie, was he shaking? I wonder about you sometimes, Henry. You may fold under questioning.

The point made throughout the film is that the various characters are in the mob because they like it, it is what drives them. Their various flaws, the frankly psychotic Tommy, the kleptomaniac Jimmy and the easily led Henry are what make them successful gangsters.

It is difficult to underestimate the legacy of GoodFellas, much like Scorsese's previous reinvention of the genre in 1973 with Mean Streets. The creator of HBO's The Sopranos even went so far as to say that "Goodfellas is the Koran for me" and cited it as the film which drove him to create his own masterpiece. The film is a triumph on so many levels. It is not just an account of a life in the Mafia, but a morality play. At the beginning, as Henry and Jimmy follow the rules and pay tribute to their leader Paulie, stay away from drug dealing and avoid murder as a last resort, they begin to prosper. However as the decades move on and they become deeply involved in the drug trade and go against Paulie's wishes, events spiral out of control and lead eventually to their downfall.

I don't think there is anything more that can be said really. It is a fantastic film, packed with stand out performances and perhaps Scorsese's best work as a director. If you haven't already seen it, you really should.

Flick of The Day: The Untouchables

The rise and fall of Al Capone and the man who took him down, Elliott Ness, is a classic American tale. Its been told many times, both on screen and in television, but perhaps it has never been told as well and with such panache as this 1987 effort from Brian De Palma. Today's film is The Untouchables.

The Untouchables (Special Collector's Edition)

It is amazing how often great things come together almost by accident. A script developed by the famed Chicago playwright David Mamet that is unusually efficient in its use of dialogue, became attached to Brian De Palma, in need of a hit having not directed a successful film since 1983's Scarface. Robert De Niro took on the role of Al Capone only after Bob Hoskins had dropped out at the last minute. Add this to the talents of Sean Connery in a career best performance and Kevin Costner with a score by the legendary Ennio Morricone and the rest is history.

Set during the time of Prohibition, the film opens with the arrival or Elliott Ness, played with schoolboy charm and naivety by Kevin Costner, in Chicago at the behest of the Dept of Treasury to bring an end to the illegal liquor business and the violence that sustains it. He soon finds that everything flows through Alfonse Capone, a menacing performance from De Niro and that with corruption rife he has no hope of achieving his goal alone. A chance encounter with an ageing beat cop, Jim Malone, leads to the formation of a new unit, an incorruptible group with the sole goal of sending Capone to jail. Connery was justly lauded for his performance as Malone, winning Best Supporting Actor in that year's Oscars. His character is the emotional centre of the film and he acts as mentor to the initially naive Elliott Ness, guiding him through the often brutal encounters with the gangs that control the liquor market. As almost everyone now knows, Capone was finally taken down by a failure to pay his income tax. 

The actors are aided in their endeavours by a fine script from Mamet, containing some great lines of back and forth dialogue and a number of tour de force set-piece scenes for which the film is still fondly remembered today. The dialogue is typically Mamet.

Malone: Why do you want to be a police officer? 

Williamson: To protect the... people and the... p... 

Malone: I'm not looking for the textbook answer. Why do you want to join the force. 

Williamson: The force? 

Malone: Yeah, why do you want to join the force. 

Williamson: Because... I... 

Malone: Yeah? 

Williamson: ...think I could help. 

Malone: You think you could help. 

Williamson: ...with the force. 

Malone: Thank you very much, you've been most helpful. 

[Williamson leaves] 

Malone: [to Ness] There goes the next chief of police

Perhaps the most famous scene is the shoot-out on the steps of Union Station. In a tribute to Sergei Eisenstein's The Battleship Potemkin in which a baby in a crib fall's down the Odessa Steps during a massacre, as Ness is on the lookout for Capone's bookkeeper who is due to depart on the last train of the day. Of course the bookkeeper and his protectors arrive just as Ness is helping a woman lift her carriage up the steps. An elegantly filmed shoot-out ensues which is both balletic and bloody.

In summary, this is a true classic with a great cast, an excellent script and a great score from Morricone. Ultimately, it's just a great yarn that holds your attention from beginning to end. It is interesting that this film really was a career high for so many of those involved. De Palma hasn't made a great film since, with a number of turkey's along the way (Mission to Mars??). De Niro's career has trailed off as he increasingly takes on roles surely only for their financial reward, while both Sean Connery and Kevin Costner have had their ups and downs in the intervening years.

Flick of The Day: Midnight Run

It may sound strange now but there was a time way back when, right about when Richard Nixon was "resigning the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow", when the buddy picture was not a cliche. Think back if you will before Die Hard with a Vengeance, before the Lethal Weapon canon, before Stir Crazy, before The Odd Couple even if you can think back that far, when the idea of putting two mismatched personality types together for the purposes of a two hour film was an original idea likely to have your average studio exec admitting "I Like it". The ultimate odd couple is of course the original and best, Laurel & Hardy. Throughout their long pairing across more then a few true classics such as Sons of The Desert and Flying Deuces, the chemistry and fundamentals remained unaltered. The larger then life Ollie who always end up in a "fine mess" or the child like Stan who always comes out alright in the end. Audiences loved the characters and the comedy came from the fact that they were this odd couple.

Now, as time wore on, Hollywood has had come up with numerous different "odd couples" to sustain the genre and produce laughs, sometimes with success and sometimes without (Rush Hour??). So we come to the picture which is the focus of today's blog, Midnight Run. Featuring as it does one of the finest screen actors of his era, Robert De Niro, in a rare comic role or should that be rare successful comic role as the tough guy bounty hunter, Jack Walsh.  A role in which he was effectively acting as the comic foil to the superb Charles Grodin as the runaway accountant, Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas. This is a fine addition to the genre.

As with all such pictures, the success of failure rests on the back and forth between the two main protagonists. This delivers in spades with a fine script by George Gallo, the basic premise being part buddy comedy part road trip as Jack Walsh is offerred $100,000 to transport imbezzeler Mardukas from New York to Los Angeles in 5 days. Of course this is easier said then done and much hilarity ensues but to find out you have to watch the movie.
Apart from the two main leads, there is some very fine supporting work from Yapphet Kotto, Dennis Farina and particularly John Ashton, as a rival bounty hunter, perhaps best known for his role as Taggart in Beverly Hills Cop.
All in all, a fine film which I urge you to watch if you get the chance.