She’s there to decorate and be decorative, and when she refuses to decorate, well, De Niro’s done with her. Specifically, De Niro being awful to her, Stone reacting poorly, and De Niro being more and more horrific. Still, until the rote mob clean-up sequence at the end, it’s always about De Niro and Stone.

The omnipresent narration (by De Niro, Joe Pesci, and occasionally a surprise narrator for effect, but never Stone because women don’t think) sometimes teases a significant plot development involving the mob, the FBI, or the casinos. He spends most of his time not being the super-genius bookmaker he’s supposed to be and getting more possessive and controlling of Stone, a successful Vegas hustler who De Niro gaslighted into marrying him. It hurts De Niro the most, as he plays a caricature of Robert De Niro in a mob movie. During that sequence, when Casino is dragging its way through its second act, it’s clear just how little self-awareness has gone into making the film. He needs the talk show so he can bitch about how the state government is targeting him even though he’s just a successful businessman who happens to be helping the mob steal from their own casino.

My favorite part of Casino is a scene where Robert De Niro bitches about Stone being all about money and fame when he’s walking through the dressing room for the showgirls who dance on his big-budget local talk show. The movie doesn’t even seem to see its problem, which isn’t a surprise because Casino is holy shit levels of misogynist. The problem is von Tagen is a kid, and Sharon Stone’s her mom, and Woods is the pimp who groomed Stone from age fourteen. Director (and co-screenwriter) Scorsese doesn’t believe in background action if it’s not foreground, it doesn’t matter. It’s mainly in the background, and it’s the only time anywhere in the film anyone shows any personality not expressly required for their scenes. The best part of Casino isn’t my favorite part of Casino because the best part is James Woods bickering with Erika von Tagen.

Martin scorsese's 1995 film casino.