I think I'm on the verge of liking this and just, well, what's the point? I feel like some films only exist to give actors and filmmakers something to do. I feel that way about a lot of Scorsese's films.

It's not a clever story - a bunch of things happen to some very bad people, there's the constant threat of violence, someone cheats on someone, all hell breaks loose, then 10-15 minutes of hyper violence, and roll credits.

There isn't a solid commentary - this film's entire take is "Vegas was way cooler when it was run by the mob", which is a weird kind of nostalgia. It's like Scorsese figured out how to make the kind of prospecting/gold rush film he'd make. With Italian-American gangsters; old men with their trousers pulled up round their nipples, complaining about old man problems whilst slitting people's throats or crushing their heads in a vice. And Joe Pesci's in it, playing that "yeah he's short but don't fuck with him because he's an absolute psycho" character, like a Jack Russell with a coke problem.

Scorsese leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. There's no room to misinterpret any of this incredibly shallow plot, or any of the characters' motivations because it's all delivered in voiceover. Sometimes the characters on-screen will talk to each other in voiceover, like some morphine-induced DVD commentary. This film is a train journey - you get on where you expected, it makes some stops along the way like you'd expect, and then it stops where you thought it would (OK so maybe not like a train journey in England).

I realise a lot of this criticism misses the point in some people's eyes, and I suppose these films just aren't for me. I just feel like a lot more could be done with the source material. Yes I'll keep going on about it until I die but look at what The Sopranos achieved - that show deep-dives into the personality constructs of the characters in films like this. I guess post-gangster can't exist without gangster.

Anyway, as far as train journeys go, it's more beautiful coastal route than delayed underground sweatbox. That is to say, if you're going to switch off for three hours and watch something, you could do a lot worse than Casino. But people sing high praise about this film and I don't think it's still hitting the mark in 2022. Especially when compared with how well Boyz n the Hood aged.

If I did stars, which I don't, it'd be +1 for De Niro's wardrobe alone.