I bought some DVDs for myself yesterday . Among them was Casino, mainly because I am planning to see The Departed, the latest movie from the same director. Casino is the story of two mobsters who go to Vegas during the seventies, one to run a casino as a (seemingly) legitimate business, the other to set up rackets like he used to run in New York. The two are childhood friends, and much of the film is taken up with the tension their different approaches to business creates and the problems they cause for each other and the mob bosses back in New York.
I am usually not a big fan of gangster movies, with the exception of Goodfellas from the same director (and most of the same cast). Casino is not as engaging as Goodfellas, despite being a very similar film in almost every way, right down to the cast, music, direction and the way much of both films are told as an extended flashback. Possibly the difference is due to Goodfellas begin a story of an anti-heroic long rise and quick fall, where Casino starts with both unlikable main characters basically at their peak and then documents their long, slow spiral downwards.
I was slightly disappointed with Casino, but hopefully The Departed will make up for it when I get around to seeing it soon.