Highly Overrated But Still Good

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Watch this if...you want to see a well acted drama film that has some really nice scenery of Atlantic City. The storyline is far fetched at points, but still an enjoyable film.Acting/Casting: 7.5* - Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon do a fantastic job in the primary roles in this film. They have a nice chemistry and their acting is the highlight of the movie aside from the backdrop of Atlantic City. The supporting cast is serviceable, but I can't say there wasn't some questionable casting in some roles.Directing/Cinematography/Technical: 7* - The movie flows well and utilizes the scenery of Atlantic City to its advantage, which is the big asset in this category. I thought it was a nice job of directing given that the content wasn't particular outstanding.Plot/Characters: 6* - Lou is a one time big shot in Atlantic City and gets to relive his glory days after meeting a young waitress and becoming an accomplice in a cocaine deal. The story is solid, but plays out a bit far fetched at times. I would to like to have seen a more realistic portrayal, which would have likely made for a little better product.Entertainment Value: 6.5* - I thought it was an entertaining and would recommend to others. The scenery and some of the acting really stands out, but I still wish the movie had a little more realism at times.My Score: 7.5+7+6+6.5 = 27/4 = 6.75 Email your thoughts to filmwatchinfool@gmail.com

Louis Malle created a poetic "Atlantic City," released in 1980 and starring Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, and Kate Reid. Lancaster plays Lou, a small-time mobster from the old days of Atlantic City. He is handsome, dresses very grandly, and pretends that he used to be in the big-time. Actually he worked in some menial job for a mobster and now takes care of his widow Grace (Kate Reid) who appears bedridden at first. He takes care of her dog, makes her food, rubs her limbs to increase circulation, and occasionally sleeps with her. She's verbally abusive to him. Grace came to Atlantic City in the '40s as a contestant in a Betty Grable lookalike contest, met her future husband, and never left.Lou meets a young waitress and would-be croupier, Sally, and their lives soon collide. He's attracted to her. Sally's sister has run off with Sally's husband, and the two show up to stay with her. Her sister is pregnant. Sally's husband Dave is there to do a drug deal; he meets Lou and stores the cocaine in Lou's apartment. People are after him, so he sends Lou to someone's apartment on a delivery, and Lou is to pick up the money. When Lou arrives home after the errand, Dave is dead. The thugs didn't get their dope, so eventually they turn to Sally. In fact, Lou has the dope and also the money from the first delivery. And he plans on taking up where Dave left off.This is such a well-done film, hearkening back to the old days of Atlantic City just as the city is being rebuilt as a eastern Las Vegas. Lou is part of the old days; Sally is ambitious and wants to better herself. Lou, never anybody, now longs to be somebody for her.The acting is wonderful. Burt Lancaster is magnificent as Lou, an old man who still has young dreams. It's a very subtle performance, very touching and sometimes funny. Susan Sarandon does a great job as Sally, creating a totally believable character.John Guare has written a great script, the first important component of a film, and it was in the hands of a master, Louis Malle. The film was made in Canada, and I recognized many Canadian actors, but the location shots are excellent.Highly recommended, a sublime experience.

Louis Malle's "Atlantic City" is as much a look at the changes that the east coast's gambling mecca was undergoing as it is a story of an aging gangster and a waitress. The elderly Lou (Burt Lancaster) talks about how the city used to be. Of course, part of what the movie shows is that even the renovation can't truly hide the gritty side of things, as the thugs are looking for the cocaine. The most famous scene is Sally's (Susan Sarandon) rubbing the lemon juice on herself to get the fish smell off, but the demolition of the old buildings, the crime bosses, and the whole end sequence tell plenty of stories as well. A very good movie.PS: Watch for an appearance by Wallace Shawn as a waiter. Malle soon afterwards cast him in "My Dinner with Andre".

There are actors that seem to be born to make great roles like the one played by Burt Lancaster in this film. A likable, charming, quite enigmatic but very friendly man named Lou Pascal, a old resident of Atlantic City who gets with his neighbor (Susan Sarandon) after the murder of her husband, Dave (Robert Joy), whom Lou recently met and started a business that might complicate the lives of everyone involved with him. Louis Malles's "Atlantic City" is a reminder that cities can be reborn and people's lives can do the same too as long as they know how to find each other in this complicated and dangerous world. The author of this is famous play-writer John Guare of the famous play "Six Degrees of Separation" and in this film we are reminded through the whole experience about the connections of life and how they work sometimes for good things, other times for bad things. And the city is constantly presented as a different place than in its older days, everything's being demolished (including the place where the main characters live) where new casinos will be made.Lou is a sad figure in the beginning, his mob days are over and now he's taking care of old lady (Kate Reid), wife of a old friend of his, and she keeps bothering this guy all the time, ringing his bell wherever she needs him. His resurrection will appear when he mets Dave and starts doing some drug dealing business that will give him a lot of money and also show to himself that life can be good again. And there's his close relation with Dave's wife, first watching her at distance while she baths herself with lemons (the beautiful opening scene); and then helping her after Dave's death. Destiny will prepare some surprises to these characters in this magnificent place called Atlantic City.The plot is easy to follow, very simple and very absorbing, very good written (the sequence of Dave's death is one of the most planned moments in film history with a thrilling chase through a car elevator). And the acting? The best possible! Lancaster and Sarandon have a great chemistry on screen, and like I said he was born to perform this role, can't imagine other actor playing. Sadly, it lost out all the five big awards in which was nominated for the Oscar, but at least, it built a enormous reputation within its audience and critics making one of the best films ever made in 1980's, a true cult film. Along with "Adieu Mon Enfants" (1987) this is Malle's best work in that decade and one of his finest. Watch it now if you can. 10/10