March 14, 2020 – Atlantic City (1980) Amazon Prime
I love this movie so much and so does Wendey (Henry sat this one out)! It is the story of an aging small-time gangster (Burt Lancaster) and a struggling young casino worker (Susan Sarandon) trying to get by in a past-its-glory-years Atlantic City. This movie on paper sounds pretty boring, if not downright creepy: there is a drug deal and an older man secretly watching a younger woman. But the movie isn’t creepy at all, it is filled with tenderness toward its characters. It is well shot, well written and well acted. People finding redemption through hard choices in a degraded and decaying world — now why does that resonate at this moment? Watch for the cameo by a young Wallace Shawn (“inconceivable!”).