Underplayed Gems

Atlantic City (1980)

Atlantic City poster
Directed by
Louis Malle
Genre
drama film, crime film, romance film
Country
France, United States, Canada
Runtime
1h 44m
Rated
R
Rating
6.8 of 10 from 299 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A retired small-time gangster and a young casino dealer living in Atlantic City form an unlikely bond. Their lives get tangled up in a drug deal gone wrong.

noirishslow-burnglamorousmelancholicromantictensegroundedbittersweet

What happens

Atlantic City (French: Atlantic City, USA) is a 1980 romantic crime film directed by Louis Malle from a screenplay by John Guare. It stars Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon in the leading roles, with a supporting cast featuring Kate Reid, Michel Piccoli, Robert Joy, Hollis McLaren, and Al Waxman. An international co-production between France and Canada, it was released in 1980 and in the United States later that year by Paramount Pictures. The film opened to critical acclaim and was nominated for the Big Five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (for Lancaster), Best Actress (for Sarandon), and Best Original Screenplay, but did not win in any category. In Canada, it won Genie Awards for Best Performance by a Foreign Actress (for Sarandon), Best Supporting Actress (for Reid), and Best Art Direction, with three additional nominations. In France, it was nominated for the César Awards for Best Screenplay, Dialogue or Adaptation and Best Music. The film won the Golden Lion at the 37th Venice International Film Festival in a tie with Gloria by John Cassavetes. In 2003, Atlantic City was among the 25 motion pictures added annually to the United States National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and recommended for preservation, being one of the Registry's few non-American additions. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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