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Atlantic City streaming

1980 Movie France, Canada Drama, Romance, Crime 104 min Ages 16+
By: Louis Malle With: Robert Joy, Kate Reid, Hollis McLaren, Al Waxman, Michel Piccoli

Atlantic City is a place where people go to realize their dreams, the promise of the future manifested by the demolition of the old crumbling buildings to be replaced by new hotels and casinos. Someone who recently came to Atlantic City for that promise is native Moose Javian (Saskatchewan) Sally Matthews, who currently works as a waitress at a hotel oyster bar, but who is training to be a black jack croupier and wants to be more cultured, such as learning French, in order to work at the casinos in Monte Carlo. Another dreamer who came to Atlantic City decades ago is Lou Pascal, who has long worked as a numbers runner and who claims to have been a cellmate and thus implied confidante of Bugsy Siegel. Although Lou still dresses to the standard to which he is accustomed, his dream long died as he only works penny ante stuff for Fred, most of his current income from being the kept man of widowed recluse, Grace Pinza. Grace too came to Atlantic City to fulfill her dreams - most specifically to participate in a Betty Grable lookalike contest - and ended up staying, marrying a player named Cookie Pinza. Sally, Lou and Grace all live in the same soon to be demolished apartment building - Sally and Lou who are next door neighbors - although Sally knows neither of her neighbors. Lou, however, secretly spies Sally through their respective apartment windows as she goes through a daily ritual. The dreams of this collective are potentially affected - largely dashed or reawakened - with the arrival into Atlantic City of Dave Matthews, Sally's estranged, deadbeat husband, and his very pregnant new ageist girlfriend Chrissie, who happens to be Sally's younger sister. It is the unknown to Sally that Dave and Chrissie bring with them that affects those dreams, namely a large cache of cocaine stolen from criminal sources.

Filmium rating
73%

Festival Achievements

San Sebastian International Filmfestival 1980
Selections:
Official Section

Mood

Bittersweet
Nostalgic
Reflective
Romantic

Cast & Crew

Louis Malle
John Guare
Hollis McLaren
Robert Joy
Al Waxman
Burt Lancaster
Kate Reid
Michel Piccoli
Susan Sarandon

Budget

Mid-Budget

Cinematic Technique

Character Focus
Diegetic Sound
Documentary-Style
Location Shooting
On-Location Filming
Urban Landscape

Narrative Structure

Character-Driven
Linear

Pace

Deliberate
Reflective
Slow
Slow-Paced

Soundtrack

Diegetic Music
Opera Music

Style

Character-Driven
Cinematic
Diegetic Music
Drama
Realism
Realistic

Time-Period

1980S

Central Conflict

Crime Revenge
Mob Violence
Romance Amidst Chaos

Characters

Casino Worker
Gangster
Mobsters
Waitress

Ending

Bittersweet
Open-Ended
Redemption

Historical Context

1970S-1980S
Casino Legalization
Urban Decay

Key Plot Points

Drug Theft
Escape
Mob Attack
Murder

Plot

Character Relationships
Crime
Romance
Romantic Crime
Urban Decay
Urban Transition

Setting

Atlantic City
Casino
Casino Environment
South Jersey
Urban Decay

Shooting Location

Atlantic City
New York
Philadelphia

Theme

Aspiration
Corruption
Personal Conflict
Redemption
Urban Decay

Genre

Character Study
Crime
Drama
Romance
Romantic Crime

Audiences

Adults
Crime Drama
Romance
Romantic Drama
Teens

Titles

Atlantic City

Reception

Academy Award Nominations
Award Nominations
Critical Acclaim
Cultural Significance
National Film Registry

Production Countries

Canada
France
United States

Release Year

1980
mowizz ID: 21afb6e1-51d2-437f-b2df-ca31a8781c85
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