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Atlantic City

Atlantic City

Crime · Drama · Romance · 1980

In a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger.

Movie details

Atlantic City

“Where dreamers can be winners.”

1980 Crime · Drama · Romance 1h 44m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

In a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Atlantic City?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Bad Lieutenant

Bad Lieutenant

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While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness.

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Loosely based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina, who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by Newark Detective Richie Roberts.

Casino

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Crime · 1995

In Las Vegas, two best friends--a casino executive and a Mafia enforcer--compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.

A Bronx Tale

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Set in the Bronx during the tumultuous 1960s, an adolescent boy is torn between his honest, working-class father and a violent yet charismatic crime boss. Complicating matters is the youngster's growing attraction - forbidden in his neighborhood - for a beautiful black girl.

Once Upon a Time in America

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Bugsy

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Donnie Brasco

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Crime · 1997

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Bound

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Drama · 1996

Corky, a tough female ex-convict working on an apartment renovation in a Chicago building, meets a couple living next door, Caesar, a paranoid mobster, and Violet, his seductive girlfriend, who is immediately attracted to her.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Louis Malle

Written by

John Guare

Burt Lancaster

Burt Lancaster

Lou

Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon

Sally

Kate Reid

Kate Reid

Grace

Michel Piccoli

Michel Piccoli

Joseph

Hollis McLaren

Hollis McLaren

Chrissy

Robert Joy

Robert Joy

Dave

Al Waxman

Al Waxman

Alfie

Court is in session

Put Atlantic City on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.