The first two movies that come to mind when discussing director Martin Scorsese’s storied career are probably Raging Bull and Goodfellas. They’re his most notorious movies that were robbed of the Oscar for Best Picture and arguably bookended his most prolific decade as a creator. But Scorsese’s most enduring legacy is not with the critics or Hollywood establishment: his movies survive the test of time so well because they’re smart, accessible and (most important) insanely rewatchable. Today, I want to discuss the most rewatchable of them all: his Las Vegas epic Casino.

Based on a non-fiction book written by Nicholas Pileggi, Casino tells the story of two friends: Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro) and Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), who are given a Las Vegas casino to run, by the mob. Despite not being officially in charge of the place, Ace turns the Tangiers into an immediate fountain of money. But such success changes everything: Ace is starting to take decisions without thinking about his future, like marrying troublesome Ginger (Sharon Stone) and the vultures are starting to show up. You can’t rule a city like Vegas without making people jealous.

Casino is a movie about success. The characters do not struggle one bit to “make it”. Ace is literally GIVEN a casino to run because he’s the smartest gambler on the mob’s roster. Nicky is so ruthless that he becomes the king of Las Vegas’ underworld overnight. Their struggle is to stay on top because their presence upsets the precarious balance of inner politics Las Vegas was built upon. In 2019 still, it’s a quite subversive take on mainstream cinema storytelling. The story of Casino starts where most movies finish: when the characters reach the American Dream.