EXT. RESTAURANT PARKING LOT, LAS VEGAS, 1983 - DAY

SAM 'ACE' ROTHSTEIN, a tall, lean, immaculately dressed man

approaches his car, opens the door, and gets inside to turn

on the ignition.

ACE (V.O.)

When you love someone, you've gotta

trust them. There's no other way.

You've got to give them the key to

everything that's yours. Otherwise,

what's the point? And, for a while...

I believed that's the kind of love I

had.

Suddenly, the car explodes. Flames, smoke and metal rise

into the sky covering the view of the Las Vegas casinos and

their signs.

Music in:
J.S. Bach - 'St Matthew Passion'.

Ace's body comes flying in - extreme slow motion. His body

twists and turns through the frame like a soul about to tumble

into the flames of damnation.

MAIN TITLE SEQUENCE.

INT. TANGIERS CASINO FLOOR - NIGHT

Vignette of ACE through rippling flames, we move in on ACE

ROTHSTEIN overseeing the casino. He lights a cigarette.

ACE (V.O.)

Before I ever ran a casino or got

myself blown up, Ace Rothstein was a

hell of a handicapper, I can tell

you that. I was so good, that whenever

I bet, I could change the odds for

every bookmaker in the country. I'm

serious. I had it down so cold that

I was given paradise on earth. I was

given one of the biggest casinos in

Las Vegas to run, the Tangiers...

INT. SAN MARINO ITALIAN GROCERY/BACK ROOM, KANSAS CITY -

NIGHT:

Vignette of MOB BOSSES sitting at a table surrounded by food

and wine like the gods of Olympus.

ACE (V.O.)

...by the only kind of guys that can

actually get you that kind of money:

sixty-two million, seven-hundred

thousand dollars. I don't know all

the details.

NICKY (V.O.)

Matter of fact...

INT. BAR, LAS VEGAS - NIGHT

Vignette of NICKY SANTORO standing at a bar with DOMINICK

SANTORO, his brother, and FRANK MARINO, his right-hand man.

NICKY (V.O.)

...nobody knew all the details, but

it should'a been perfect. I mean, he

had me, Nicky Santoro, his best

friend, watching his ass...

INT. NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT

Vignette of GINGER MCKENNA a dazzling thirty-one-year-old

blonde seated by a small fiery pool.

NICKY (V.O.)

...and he had Ginger, the woman he

loved, on his arm. But in the end...

INT. TANGIERS SPORTSBOOK/ACE'S OFFICE - NIGHT

ACE looks over the casino he rules.

NICKY (V.O.)

...we fucked it all up. It should'a

been so sweet, too. But it turned

out to be the last time that street

guys like us were ever given anything

that fuckin' valuable again.

EXT. LAS VEGAS - NIGHT

Aerial shot coming down out of the clouds over the brightly

lit Vegas Strip and off into the blackness of the desert

night.

ACE (V.O.)

At that time, Vegas was a place where

millions of suckers flew in every

year on their own nickel, and left

behind about a billion dollars. But

at night, you couldn't see the desert

that surrounds Las Vegas...

EXT. DESERT - DAWN

Aerial shot swooping along the desert floor, then rising

above the mist to reveal mountains in the distance.

ACE (V.O.)

But it's in the desert where lots of

the town's problems are solved.

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