Avis Metacritic

What makes Atlantic City sweet -- and that's the word for it -- is the gentleness with which Lou handles his last chance at amounting to something, and the wisdom with which Sally handles Lou.

A well observed and deeply tender tale.

This is a gentle, warm, well-acted movie, and easy to like.

Malle's slow, deliberate direction tends to flatten out the script's emotional rhythms—he's stern and arty where a lighter sensibility might have been more appropriate—but the film is still a shimmering success.

Atlantic City is a sophisticated fairy tale, beautifully acted and beautiful to behold; it is as funny as it is touching.

A rich, gaudy cinema trip.

Witty, warm, but never sentimental, it also benefits from being set in the fading glories of the resort town of the title: grand seaside facades behind which lie more mundane realities, surrounded by decay and demolition.

Film is blessed with a spare, intriguing script by Yank John Guare, which always skirts impending cliches and predictability by finding unusual facets in his characters and their actions.

Aided by a superb script from playwright John Guare, director Louis Malle pulls off a minor coup here, celebrating his wounded characters even as he mercilessly reveals their dreams for the hopeless illusions they really are.

Frenchman Louis Malle is an accomplished interpreter of the dreams and dilusions of American smalltimers. He draws first-rate performances from the cast, especially Lancaster as the burned-out hood and Sarandon as the single-minded survivor. [13 Apr 1981]