An aged mob underling (Burt Lancaster), who makes his living waiting hand and foot on his old boss's widow, is sprung back to life when he attempts to unload some stolen cocaine and serve as protector to the recently bumped off thief's card-dealing wife (Susan Sarandon). Louis Malle's Atlantic City is a brilliantly realized, European-minded character study with Lancaster perfectly suited to play the sweet, vain loser and Sarandon is just as great as one of many of the city's itinerants trying to buy a ticket out but beset on every side.
**** out of ****
