I haven’t watched “Casino,” yet, but from what I’ve heard Sharon Stone is quite good in her role.

And you can add me to the list of those who’d like Scorsese to offer more strong roles for women (foaming-at-the-mouth or no) in his films.

As for the lack of female roles that match those for males, I basically concur, but NOT when it comes to their strength. First of all, Sharon Stone, as Ginger in “Casino”, “hammed it up” and was every bit as crazed, demanding and in her own way, thug-like (yet pathetic) as most of Scorcese’s male bad-asses!

Her husband, DeNiro’s Ace Rothstein, is actually afraid of her, no matter how much he controls her with money and idle threats. During one of her rages, that lasts for hours, Rothstein actually calls for back-up (Don Rickle’s character, toting a shotgun, and then the police!).Stone’s performance is a powerhouse, right up until her tragic end.

Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn, was a BIT too much (sounding more like she came from New Orleans than Connecticut, in her attempt to capture the Yankee, upper-class drawl). But her character’s sense of self, her vanity and assurance humbled and emasculated DeCaprio’s Hughes, just as much as Ginger’s coke-fueled tirades and assaults did to Rothstein!

In “The Age of Innocence”, there are actually TWO powerful women, Michelle Pfeiffer’s Ellen Olenska and Winona Ryder’s May, but powerful in a very different way. Though, through the lens of 19th Century manners, they SEEM demure and powerless, make no mistake; they war over the witless, gutless Newland Archer’s soul like two lionesses disguised in corsets, silk and lace! Their very propriety, especially May’s icy determination, delude the prey (Daniel Day Lewis’ Archer) into finally succumbing, out of sheer exhaustion.

This just goes to show that, when Scorcese WANTS to, his women are just as thuggery and “foaming at the mouth” as are his male characters. I, for one, would like to see more of this!