Atlantic City (1980)

Directed by Louis Malle. Starring Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Kate Reid, Robert Joy, Hollis McLaren, Michael Piccoli, Al Waxman, Moses Znaimer, Angus MacInnes. [R]

Aging small-time hood and numbers-runner Lancaster gets involved with lonely waitress Sarandon and her reckless, estranged husband (Joy) in a drug-dealing scheme that (inevitably) goes south, sending two ruthless gangsters (Znaimer, MacInnes) their way. Has the ingredients for a taut crime thriller—and some of the plot turns are conventional enough—but in the hands of director Malle, he focuses on personality and interaction, and shows enough patient deliberation to examine the characters at the appropriate level, in a city that has long lost its luster, now decaying and clinging to former glories. Lancaster strips away many of his forceful, mischievous qualities to create a resigned weariness, propped up by dignity and sparked by the thrill of promise when he finds an opportunity to become Sarandon’s gallant white knight. Eccentric but sophisticated, wistful but witty, it’s one of Malle’s most accessible works, and gave Sarandon her first great role (apologies to Janet Weiss enthusiasts). Provides an improvement on the old adage about lemonade; now, when life gives you lemons, hand them over to Susan and take a seat. Robert Goulet briefly appears as himself.

90/100