Atlantic City (1980)
Genre: Crime / Romance
Duration: 104 minuten
Alternative title: Atlantic City, USA
Country:
Canada / France
Directed by: Louis Malle
Stars: Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon and Michel Piccoli
IMDb score:
7,3 (19.553)
Releasedate: 3 September 1980
Atlantic City plot
"She made him become what he always wanted to be - a lover, a hero, a rich man...and a killer!"
Sally has run away from her drug-dealing husband. She lands a job as a croupier in an Atlantic City casino. Lou is a petty thief but he thinks he has a big criminal history. He sees his neighbor Sally going to work every day and becomes interested in her. When Sally's ex and her sister show up at her door, the trouble begins. The ex wants to make a cocaine deal, but it doesn't go well. Time for Lou to prove himself.
Reviews & comments
scorsese
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- 13235 messages
- 11125 votes
Good movie about an old man from the gangster era who happens to come into possession of some drugs. The course of the film is a bit slow, but not easy to predict. The characters also come out well (especially the inner struggle of the main character). This is also certainly to the credit of Burt Lancaster's excellent role.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
Very nice crime film by Louis Malle. Atlantic City isn't what it used to be. No longer the grandeur of yesteryear and the peeling city also radiates on its inhabitants: empty, worn out and without a future. In this setting, the charming and aging Lou acts. Beautiful role by Burt Lancaster who courtes Sally like a Don Juan.
He accidentally ends up in choppy waters and after the initial shock, he enjoys it a bit. He cannot hide his euphoria after shooting those two gangsters. Susan Sarandon also does fine as a waitress who works her way up as a croupier, preferably far away from Atlantic City.
The plot is fairly simple, but has enough momentum to keep it interesting. Extremely atmospheric too. Not wrong to put this on your list, although it will never be really high.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Collins
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- 7346 messages
- 4345 votes
A film by Louis Malle that very serenely sets the multifaceted plot in motion and introduces and connects the characters. A film about past glory. With Burt Lancaster as the personification of it. With a fruity Susan Sarandon as the contradiction of past glory. With the city of Atlantic City as a harsh and grim setting and a ruin where the characteristic evidence of past glory is laid in ruins and replaced by architectural uniformity.
Lancaster has a fantastic role as Ganove Lou. Lou is a man who rubs against the seamy side and keeps himself alive by doing odd jobs. A man who has seen better days in the city where gambling has been legalized. He is a man who derives his dignity from that time that no longer exists. He's a sad nobody. A man who doesn't even have a Social Security number and who, at his respectable age, still has to worry about collecting income every day in a disheartening way.
The old romantic Atlantic City is sporadically visible behind the new facade. Huge buildings with boarded-up windows still show some of the splendor of the days gone by. Lou walks the Board Walk daily with the city on one side and the ocean on the other. "You should have seen the Atlantic Ocean back then". The boardwalk is a backdrop that symbolizes Lou's gloom. A decor of bygone dreams. The old Atlantic City where people like Lou lived is no more.
Louis Malle takes a critical look at the harsh American Way of Life and at the same time delivers a film that is a successful homage to Film Noir. A respectful, sentimental and romantic homage.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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