Fear not.

First time I watched it, I too felt it lacked a plot, and that the whole film was like a long establishing shot.

This is how Scorsese wants it. He wants to provide enough insight for us that he is actually giving us information overload: a verbal, audial and visual barrage on the senses, with Liotta's voice-over acting as a kind of "blink and you miss" introduction to this world. It's far too big a story and life to fit into two hours and twenty minutes with any kind of emotional justification. So instead, it's a fast-flowing, perfectly edited "story" told in a detached, almost third-person manner.

Go back to it, but wait; and stay away from Casino for a while, since that's even worse (but a brilliant film, once again, I feel).

Mick