SAM ROTHSTEIN (ROBERT DE NIRO) favors sports jackets in blinding solids--sometimes in the primary hues, sometimes in less-than-subtle pastels. These he color-coordinates with silky haberdashery and alligator loafers dyed to match. But underneath his sight-gag plumage lives a gray, watchful, calculating spirit. He's a professional gambler, always looking for an edge. Or, once the Mob makes him manager of a Las Vegas casino in the 1970s, the preternaturally alert defender of its edge over the assembled suckers.
He is not, however, what you'd call a people person. And therein lies the downfall it takes Casino (or should we call it GoodFellas...