Atlantic City

R

Released Apr 3, 1981

1 hr. 44 min.

Comedy

Drama

List

100%

38 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

When Sally Matthews (Susan Sarandon) leaves her Canadian home to relocate to Atlantic City, she aspires to a prosperous career in the gambling industry. With her criminal husband (Robert Joy) on her trail, however, it appears that she can't escape from trouble, until she finds an unlikely savior in Lou Pascal (Burt Lancaster), an aging small-time mobster. By becoming involved with Sally, Lou finds a way to achieve the success he's dreamed of, but his plan may endanger both their lives.

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Critics Consensus

Bittersweet and reflective, Atlantic City is a modest romance given raw power by Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon's heartfelt performances along with director Louis Malle's eccentric eye for detail.

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Leaburn O

A really good gritty underworld tale from the down at heel Atlantic City. Fast paced and a lot to enjoy in the screenplay. Really enjoyed this one. Watched this one n DVD.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/24

Full Review

Dave S

With the seedy gambling city as the backdrop, Louis Malle's Atlantic City is a film about equally seedy characters in search of their own unattainable goals. Sally (Susan Sarandon), an aspiring blackjack dealer who dreams of working in a Monte Carlo casino, is having trouble making ends meet. Her neighbor, Lou (Burt Lancaster), a former small-time hustler in Vegas, makes ends meet by tending to the needs of the widow of a former boss. When they meet as the result of a drug deal gone bad, they begin the realize that the only attainable salvation they may find is through their relationship. Atlantic City is far from perfect – the secondary characters all feel like cardboard cutouts and much of the dialogue is either unnecessary or ridiculous (‘Cookie had more manhood in his toupee than you've got in your fat frame!!'). However, Malle presents some great images (the extended close-up of Lancaster after he is confronted by the drug dealers, for example) and the chemistry between Sarandon and Lancaster is electric at times, making it a worthwhile watch despite its shortcomings.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/08/23

Full Review

paul d

Louis Malle's Atlantic City is a dreamy, lyrical and beautiful film made in a gritty, ugly city that is caught between its faded former glory and the promise of renewal and rebirth, thanks to casinos, themselves ugly and corrupting. It's about two people at opposite ends of their lives who cross paths for a few magical days. Burt Lancaster is marvelous as a former underworld errand-boy who still dreams of doing great things. Susan Sarandon is outstanding as a young woman running from a desolate youth in the Canadian prairie and a bad marriage. She's also been cheated by those closest to her. The story and Malle's direction reflect a deep humanity and a tremendous eye for portraying characters through small gestures and production details. Never has such a squalid society been portrayed with such love.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

William L

"Just let the boys see how well I turned out." The 'older character trapped in a prison of nostalgia' is not a particularly innovative archetype; it's been a cinematic mainstay ever since Norma Desmond announced that she was "ready for her close-up". As a setting, Atlantic City seems a particularly apt selection for a story based around such a character - a once-decadent city now in steep decline with its glory days well behind it. And while that base design may have served as the inspiration for Lancaster's character Lou, Atlantic City adds in a surprising amount of variety and flavor to go beyond broad-stroke plot development. An elderly Lou fancies himself a product of the glory days of American gambling, rubbing shoulders with big name gangsters when in reality he is simply a former small fry now self-aggrandizing in his old age. When by sheer coincidence he lucks into a windfall, he treats it as the opportunity to live out his fantasy, ordering new clothes, the best food, and pursuing a woman that he fantasizes about through his window, Sarandon's Sally. The film gets great when the house of cards comes crumbling down, as Susan is fired from her job (trying to pursue her own fantasy - a dealer in Monte Carlo where only men are allowed the position) and realizes that it was her husband's stolen drugs that were responsible for Lou's gifts. Her entire countenance immediately changes, from the porcelain doll that Lou wanted to play with to a practical ruthlessness, capped by a ruse in which she convinces a bus driver that Lou is her dementia-riddled father, concocting a convincing backstory on the spot. It's not just the toxic nostalgia, it's the mix of a few key elements that makes Atlantic City a convincing story - the obsession with the past, the self-deception, and the realization of impotence and unfulfilled ambiton. The supporting cast is good (including a Robert Goulet cameo and a woman who doesn't use seatbelts because she doesn't believe in gravity), but the two leads are both great; Lancaster demonstrates that he's still got particualr range as he becomes awash in giddiness at gunning down a couple of mobsters and seeing his police sketch on TV, excited to tell the whole world that he finally did something real. (3.5/5)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/04/21

Full Review

Audience Member

A film that starts slow but becomes engrossing when the down-trodden characters are in danger and lose what little they have. Lancaster and Sarandon's character's have similar parallels as both are trying to get by with what little they have while reluctantly helping their friend and family respectively. Both actors play there roles well and the script is also well-written to gradually reveal each character's history and keep the audience engaged. It may not be well-told as Malle's Au Revoir, Les Enfants but it is still an entertaining film. The film was nominated for Best Picture at the 54th Academy Awards. The only nominee I have seen is Raiders of the Lost Ark which I thought was better than this film. I also thought Spielberg directed Raiders better than this film. I haven't seen Lancaster's other Best Actor nominees. I only other nominee I saw in Sarandon's category, Best Actress, was Meryl Streep who I thought acted as well as Sarandon and I wouldn't mind which actress won.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Mr and Mrs Blobbo saw in theater at time. Duel reaction - Meh. Update --- 40 years later movie plays better. (Maybe because Blobbo older.)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

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Louis Malle

Director

Burt Lancaster

Lou

Susan Sarandon

Sally

Kate Reid

Grace

Michel Piccoli

Joseph

Hollis McLaren

Chrissie

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Atlantic City: Official Clip - Teach Me Stuff

1:51

Atlantic City: Official Clip - I've Never Been to Florida

2:03

Atlantic City: Official Clip - I Didn't Protect You

1:56

Atlantic City: Official Clip - I Want My Money!

1:53

Atlantic City: Official Clip - I Watch You

2:05

Atlantic City: Official Clip - Gunned Down Gangsters

1:31

Atlantic City: Official Clip - Watching Her

1:53

Atlantic City: Official Clip - Don't Forget to Ditch the Car

2:07

Atlantic City: Official Clip - Hard Ten, Soft Three

1:39

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Pauline Kael

New Yorker

Lancaster uses his big, strong body so expressively that if this were a stage performance the audience would probably give him a standing ovation. I don’t see how he could be any better.

Sep 12, 2023

Full Review

Eric Hynes

Village Voice

[Sarandon is] shirtless before she even has a name, but her desire to be ogled is granted dignity and power; gradually and unassumingly, she upstages a terrific Burt Lancaster.

Oct 7, 2012

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

A shimmering success.

Oct 7, 2012

Full Review

Sean Burns

Crooked Marquee

Lancaster was never more moving onscreen than when he was lying to himself, and there are shades of his shattering performance as John Cheever’s 'The Swimmer' in Lou’s tall tales of his glory days.

Jul 16, 2022

Full Review

Michael Ventura

L.A. Weekly

Atlantic City is a rough and tender film, a dreamer's film, and beautifully made. A small film that plays for high stakes and ends with the wheel still rolling.

Dec 29, 2021

Full Review

Niall Browne

Movies in Focus

The bleak cinematography and subtle score give Atlantic City a hypnotic quality and it obviously inspired Bruce Springsteen's track of the same name from his Nebraska album - in fact lines from the song are "borrowed" from Guare's screenplay.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 24, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

When Sally Matthews (Susan Sarandon) leaves her Canadian home to relocate to Atlantic City, she aspires to a prosperous career in the gambling industry. With her criminal husband (Robert Joy) on her trail, however, it appears that she can't escape from trouble, until she finds an unlikely savior in Lou Pascal (Burt Lancaster), an aging small-time mobster. By becoming involved with Sally, Lou finds a way to achieve the success he's dreamed of, but his plan may endanger both their lives.

Director: Louis Malle
Screenwriter: John Guare
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount, Selta Films
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 3, 1981, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 25, 2010

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