Casino is a movie about mobster corruption and the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas. It reveals the complex web of criminal enterprise that centered on a handful of casinos in the city, with tendrils reaching into politicians, Teamsters unions, and even the Midwest mafia based out of Kansas City. It’s an epic story of greed, treachery, and violence.
Unlike some other epic crime dramas, there are no good guys in this film. The entire cast is populated by characters mired in a sea of avarice and dishonesty. The only redeeming quality is that many of them get their comeuppance in the end.
The people who visit casinos are a diverse bunch. They range from the wealthy heirs of Fortune 500 companies to down-and-out locals trying to earn back some of the money they’ve lost on the roulette wheel or poker table. But they all have one thing in common – they have fun. The music is loud, the lights are flashy, and the coins clinking against the tables provide a constant adrenaline rush.
A casino’s success depends on encouraging gamblers to spend more and take bigger risks. So the gaming floor is designed with the business’s goals in mind. Its color schemes, gaudy decorations and lack of clocks are meant to distract players from realizing how much time they’re spending at the tables or slot machines. They also discourage people from leaving by making it difficult to find their way out of the casino without going past gaming sections they’re not interested in.