(1980)
4.5
Michael Betzold
Louis Malle's moody, gossamer story about an aging gangster (Burt Lancaster) and his young casino-worker lover (Susan Sarandon) is one of the French filmmaker's most successful atmospheric pieces. Released in 1980, it followed Malle's controversial Pretty Baby (1978), and it proved to some critics that Malle was more than a director who aimed to shock with sex scenes. Like Pretty Baby, this is an outsider's incisive portrait of a slice of American culture, with gamblers and drug dealers carrying on their tired routines in a city that seems, like Lancaster's character Lou, to be fading fast. It's ultimately a deep character study about clinging to old habits and surviving change. Atlantic City garnered five top Oscar nominations, though it won none of them. It did win several British and American film critics' awards. It contains one of Lancaster's most harrowing and memorable performances. Screenwriter John Guare went on to pen Six Degrees of Separation.
awards for Atlantic City on AllMovie
Atlantic City (1980)
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
|
Nominated |
Best Actor
|
1981 |
|
Nominated |
Best Actress
|
1981 |
|
Nominated |
Best Director
|
1981 |
|
Nominated |
Best Original Screenplay
|
1981 |
|
Nominated |
Best Picture
|
1981 |
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
|
Won |
Best Actor
|
1981 |
|
Won |
Best Director
|
1981 |
Directors Guild of America
|
Nominated |
Best Director
|
1981 |
Genie Awards
|
Nominated |
Best Actor - Foreign
|
1981 |
|
Won |
Best Actress - Foreign
|
1981 |
|
Won |
Best Art Direction
|
1981 |
|
Nominated |
Best Cinematography
|
1981 |
|
Nominated |
Best Costume Design
|
1981 |
|
Nominated |
Best Supporting Actor
|
1981 |
|
Won |
Best Supporting Actress
|
1981 |
Hollywood Foreign Press Association
|
Nominated |
Best Director
|
1981 |
|
Nominated |
Best Foreign Film
|
1981 |
|
Nominated |
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
|
1981 |
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
|
Won |
Best Actor
|
1981 |
|
Won |
Best Picture
|
1981 |
|
Won |
Best Screenplay
|
1981 |
|
Won |
New Generation Award
|
1981 |
National Board of Review
|
Nominated |
Best Picture
|
1981 |
National Society of Film Critics
New York Film Critics Circle
|
Won |
Best Actor
|
1981 |
|
Won |
Best Screenplay
|
1981 |
Venice International Film Festival