Casino was a critical and commercial hit, marking another success for the Scorsese-Pileggi team-up after working together in Goodfellas. Set in 1973, Casino follows Same “Ace” Rothstein (De Niro), a gambling expert handicapper who is asked by the Chicago outfit to oversee the casino and hotel operations at the Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. Based on the 1995 nonfiction book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas by Nicholas Pileggi, Casino reunited Scorsese with two of his most notable frequent collaborators: Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci.
After telling the story of Henry Hill in Goodfellas and visiting the horror genre with Cape Fear and historical drama with The Age of Innocence, Scorsese returned to the gangster genre with Casino.
Although Martin Scorsese has explored different genres in his career as a filmmaker, he’s best known for his gangster movies. Casino is one of Martin Scorsese’s most notable crime movies, and like other gangster movies made by him, it was based on real-life people.