Very well executed

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

To no fault of my own, I was born and raised in New Jersey. Regardless, please don't hold that fact alone against me. I deserve a chance. After a hiatus of ten years for good behavior, I returned to the state to attend graduate school at the same time that this film was produced and when there was so much hope that a crumbling, dying Atlantic City would be revitalized by the recently legalized casino industry. When the taxpayers of New Jersey approved the legalization of gambling in 1976, they were showered with empty promises of how a vision of gleaming Atlantic City casinos would substantially subsidize the state's very inefficient and wasteful public education system. Today, more than forty years after the much touted "Promise of Atlantic City", New Jersey is among the highest taxed states in the nation, largely because of the very same, maddening costs of an extremely localized public education system. In spite of the highest real property taxes in the country and additional taxes and lotteries of every kind, the state is also financially bankrupt as of this writing in 2018. The promise of Atlantic City was a total lie, not only for the state but for the city. For me, this movie is a brilliant illustration of the hopelessness that lies ahead, not only for all of the characters within the story but for the perpetually troubled and morally corrupt city at the center of the movie. Near the end, as Lou discusses the kind of pizza that Sally is supposed to bring him, he knows that she will not be returning. "Remember to ditch the car," he advises her in a sudden flash to reality. As he peers out of the motel window watching Sally drive away, Lou, unlike the duped taxpayers and voters of New Jersey in 1976, is too smart not to understand the truth of the matter.As good as Burt Lancaster was throughout his career, going back to "The Killers" in 1946, the man aged like fine wine. I recently viewed "The Swimmer", produced when he was 55, and just watched this film when he was 67. As interesting as the basic concepts of both films were, they would not have been as captivating without the depth and intelligence that Lancaster brought to their leading roles. Susan Sarandon as Sally kept up with the old master every step of the way, and she looked stunning. I would love her as my croupier any day of the week, not that I can afford to indulge. I worked too hard for my money through the years.In order to tell his very sad but compelling story, Director Louis Malle brilliantly used the backdrop of a crumbling, decadent city that had been given false hope on a massive, monumental scale. This time, I was happy to focus on the actual action of the movie rather than the subtitles so that I could appreciate the extent of his very talented directing ability.

Plot—A small-time numbers runner in Atlantic City eyes his cute young neighbor, at the same time he tends to the needs of a bed-ridden older woman. Then he steals a cache of powdered drugs that the neighbor is taking care of for her brother who has stolen them from the mob. The money now acts as a catalyst in bringing forth the dreams of the three as they interact.I'd like to suggest a main theme that ties together much of the movie's lengthy narrative. Everybody's got dreams in this character driven Louis Malle film. What stood out for me is how morally compromised the main characters are. Still, we can't help liking them despite their flaws. True, Lancaster's small-time numbers runner (Lou) is generous with his money. But consider that all that dough comes from stolen drugs he's resold to a supplier. Thus, one man's generosity comes from the addictive misery of others. Then too, he's not above popping two hoods as they try to get their money back. More significantly, killing them finally confirms that he's a real hood and not just a bragging story-teller. Thus his big dream of being a real killer is fulfilled as his gushing reactions show. Then too, sneakily fulfilling Sally's dream at the end may be a kind of redemption for his own lifetime of guilty pleasures. At the same time, waitress Sally (Sarandon) steals money from Lou despite their romantic over-nighters. And that's after he's offered her a glorious life for them in sunny Florida. But, behind that charming smile lies an unrelenting brain, as she drives on toward her card- dealing dream in ritzy Monaco. Perhaps tellingly, we're not shown her upshot, unlike what happens to Lou. Then there's the bed-ridden Grace (Reid). Her dream may well be regaining mobility instead of just lying in bed complaining and imposing on Lou for her daily needs. With that dream fulfilled thanks to Lou's new-found and non-mercenary commitment, she finds reason to walk.Perhaps this is what underlies that final dignified shot of Lou and Grace walking together along a rebuilding Atlantic City whose own yearnings are underway. That last shot is a portrait of dreams-- maybe not well understood or morally deserved-- but at last fulfilled. Thus an unusually thoughtful 100-minutes is topped off.

Don't hesitate to get into that film. You will love it because they are all crooked and they all want only one thing, to fool and rob the others. Killing is not really their job, but they enjoy doing it when it is not by accident and they relish the sensations they get when it is by accident. They rob, they deal and not only cards, they kill and assassinate, they cheat and they lie, they show off and they pretend, in one words they are all freaks who are petty criminals of no real nature and ambition. They manage to kill one another for a few thousand dollars, mind you something like thirteen or maybe seventeen thousand. Peanuts, even in 1980 or some time before.That was the time when Atlantic City was finding some new gambling dimension after the downfall, when Las Vegas was investing beyond its own city limits and on the east coast for a while, that is to say close to New York, Philadelphia and some other cities of that size. That could not be the big losers and the big betters and the big winners, but many regular small or average addicted gamblers are more profitable than a few erratic big ones.And when we are speaking of small, we mean small. Some plain white powder cut down by half anyway for twice the price. That powder was stolen and the money that came with it was just as much stolen as the white powder itself, from the first thief, to the second thief, to third thief, and the stolen money goes around just as much as the stolen white powder on a never ending merry-go-round.Among these small young amateurish criminals a couple of two older and by now wasted uncouth people are trying to get everything for themselves and yet they realize their age does not fit that kind of activity and life, and they just collect a few crumbs and they let the only surviving younger one get away with the loot.The only really good interest of the film is the decadent dimension of it. The younger generation was in the process of taking over but the golden boys had not arrived yet, the yuppies as they were going to be called. But all the same, it reeks of decadence with an after taste of poverty, particularly mental poverty. That world took so much time and energy to get wiped away. That was the time when a completely new approach was necessary and the older actor known as Ronald Reagan was going to be elevated to the position of president and that will bring this and this will mean that.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Louis Malle's "Atlantic City" is as much a look at the changes that the east coast's gambling mecca was undergoing as it is a story of an aging gangster and a waitress. The elderly Lou (Burt Lancaster) talks about how the city used to be. Of course, part of what the movie shows is that even the renovation can't truly hide the gritty side of things, as the thugs are looking for the cocaine. The most famous scene is Sally's (Susan Sarandon) rubbing the lemon juice on herself to get the fish smell off, but the demolition of the old buildings, the crime bosses, and the whole end sequence tell plenty of stories as well. A very good movie.PS: Watch for an appearance by Wallace Shawn as a waiter. Malle soon afterwards cast him in "My Dinner with Andre".