Summary
Some years after her husband, Dave, ran off with her sister, Sally Matthews finds herself
working in a casino in Atlantic City. One day, Dave and her sister turn up on her
doorstep, looking for a place to stay. Unbeknown to Sally, Dave has intercepted
a stash of drugs which he intends to push in Atlantic City, with the help of Sally’s neighbour,
an ageing one-time gangster named Lou. When Dave is killed by the crooks from whom
he stole the drugs, Lou decides to take Sally under his wing, abandoning Kate, an old
widow he has been looking after for the past few decades. Lou and Sally seem to
have it made - until the gangsters catch up with them...
Review
For his second English language film, Louis Malle returned to somewhat safer territory
than his first. Compared with the controversial Pretty Baby (1978), Atlantic
City would appear to be a pretty unremarkable film, a fairly conventional mix of American
crime thriller and romance. Certainly, the film is one of Malle’s most restrained
works, showing little of the atmosphere or inspiration of his previous French language
films.
What begins as a somewhat run-of-the-mill crime drama gradually evolves into an engaging
romantic drama, spiced up with the occasional brilliant comic touch. What sets Atlantic
City part, and has made it something of a cult classic, is the way it gently turns
the traditional gangster movie on its head, presenting its crooked central character as
a vulnerable, tragically flawed human being rather than a glamorous hero or villain.
The crumbling, run-down location of Atlantic City serves as the perfect backdrop, providing
a very powerful visual symbol of the decline of the film's central character Lou, a fading
crook played brilliantly by Burt Lancaster (in one of his most memorable film roles).
As the old gambling halls are being pulled down to make way for new, legalised casinos,
the city is experiencing a kind of rebirth. In a similar way, the arrival of Sally
and her drugs-pushing ex-husband into his life represents a kind of rebirth for Lou.
But, try as he might, Lou’s new lease of life is illusory, and the experience only serves
to remind him of his failed past and to, ultimately, put him back in his place.
Film enthusiasts will easily spot the references to class film noir - after all,
Louis Malle was, like his French New Wave contemporaries François Truffaut and
Jean-Luc Godard, greatly influenced by the American B movies of the 1940s. Whilst
admittedly not as stylish as Louis Malle’s first, and most celebrated, crime thriller,
L’Ascenseur pour
l’échafaud (1958), Atlantic City is stronger in its characterisation
and cruel sense of irony.
Atlantic City received critical acclaim and was nominated for five Oscars (best
actor, best actress, best director, best film and best original screenplay), although
it won none. It was to be Louis Malle’s most successful film (grossing around
10 million dollars) and was a huge success in the United States.
© James Travers 2002
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