Ranking De Niro's Performances In Scorsese Films

The biggest flaw with Casino is that it isn’t Goodfellas. Or rather, that it is Goodfellas, only not done quite so well. Scorsese’s Las Vegas mob epic is indulgent and fun, but lacks the laser focus of his earlier work, while copping just about all of its tricks. That’s not to say the film isn’t good, because it very much is - it’s just not a Scorsese essential, and the same can be said for De Niro’s performance.

Playing Sam Rothstein, he puts in what you might call a professional turn as a behind the scenes quasi-gangster. Rothstein wasn’t a flashy individual - he did his best not to attract attention, and De Niro’s performance somewhat does likewise. He takes over from Ray Liotta on voiceover duties, and much of this is used to show the levels of research Scorsese and co-writer Nicholas Pileggi carried out.

This is a busy film, dense with period detail and full of wild moments and characters. Bobby’s buttoned down performance can get a little lost in the shuffle.

As ever, he inhabits the character fully, building Rothstein from the ground up, paying incredible attention to how he dresses, moves, holds himself. He plays the guy as though he’s only just managing to stay in control, to keep himself together, and he’s as watchable as ever. With a CV as extraordinary as De Niro’s, though, this particular role can’t quite stand up to some of the competition.