3/19/2005: Views: Atlantic City
Atlantic City 1981, dir. Louis Malle
I'd never seen this before and didn't know a thing about it. A friend suggested I give it a look and I'm glad I did.
You can't go wrong with Burt Lancaster, especially the older suaver version. He's just wonderful in this gritty tale set in pre-Trump Atlantic City, NJ when the city was beginning its transition from rundown to Vegas-style glitz. The movie opens with a news clip of one of the old hotels being destroyed to make way for the new - you can't go wrong with a good implosion, either!
Lancaster plays Lou, an aging gangster from AC's former glory days, but he's gotten about as rundown and tattery as the city. He lives in a dumpy flophouse along with Sally (Susan Sarandon) who's hoping to start a new life as a blackjack dealer, and Grace (Kate Reid), widow of one of the top mobsters from the old days.
Enter Sally's ex-husband and her pregnant (by him) hippie sister and the story takes off. The ex fancies himself a criminal mastermind but soon gets in over his head, and Lou gets involved - giving him a chance to relive the old days, redeeming a bit of his lost pride and reliving some of his past shame in the process. The movie moves along quickly through the clever plot and all the characters are exactly as they should be.
Lancaster is both sweet and despicable, and utterly charming as Lou. It was a bit hard to swallow Sarandon as being 30ish at first since she hasn't aged much since; so once I'd accepted that she wasn't 50 but only 30 here, it was a little creepy when she & Burt hooked up lol. Both were nominated for Oscars® for Atlantic City, which also received nominations for Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay.
Reid's Grace Pinza is a high point throughout as the former (minor) beauty queen living on her dead husband's mob reputation. She's almost a caricature of a bedridden, poodle-toting, overly-made-up demanding old lady stuck in the past, but she makes it work. Robert Goulet shows up too, almost as a caricature of himself.
Check this one out for a great story with great characters, and for some thoughtful perspectives on aging and change. Lancaster and the older characters mirror Atlantic City of that time, trying to reconcile their past glory & lost youth with their current near-decrepid condition and approaching death; while Sarandon and the younger characters are a reflection of the city's hope for a shiny new future of wealth and success, and finding it isn't as easy as it sounds.
Atlantic City's website has a good history page, a photo tour of old postcards, and a nice photo tour of aerial views of the city.
