Tag Archive: Steven Soderbergh

Gambling movies remain as popular today as they did back in the 1960s. This is because the basic premise of gambling appeals to everyone thanks to its overarching depiction of the importance of luck in life. The idea is that, for the audience, chance could change their trajectory. There's the thrilling anticipation of waiting for the roulette ball to fall or the next turn of a card. Also, many protagonists are somehow flawed characters, which in many ways makes them more real and accessible.

Deciding to make a remake of an old Frank Sinatra movie, director Steven Soderbergh set about finding a star-power cast of the most popular and bankable stars working in Hollywood. Nevertheless, the script was both clever and funny and it gave the famous actors a chance to shine, as did Soderbergh's clean and immersive directing style. They used the real-life Bellagio Casino and Resort in Las Vegas for many of the casino scenes. Without a doubt, this gives the movie a sense of authenticity.

No movie catches those early years of the building of las Vegas better than Scorsese's Casino. Set in a fictional Tangiers Casino, it tells the story of the casino's manager, Lefty Rosenthal. Trying to run an upright establishment, ut with the mafia wanting their cut, and a crazy mobster constantly undermining him, Rosenthal has to walk a fine line. When things do go sideways, the movie descends into the dark and grim universe of the mafia's underbelly. Robert De Nero absolutely nails the part.