Atlantic City
PLOT:
In 1915, Atlantic City is a sleepy seaside resort, but Brad Taylor, son of a small hotel and vaudeville house proprietor, has big plans: he thinks it can be “the playground of the world.” Brad’s wheeling and dealing proves remarkably successful in attracting big enterprises and big shows, but brings him little success in personal relationships. Full of nostalgic songs and acts, some with the original artists.
REVIEW:
Please forgive the briefness of this review, I’m a bit under the weather. I’m actually surprised I managed to stay coherent throughout this picture.
With all the sudden fascination with all things Jersey, I figured why not cave in and check something out along those lines. This is how I came across Atlantic City. Not to mention it has Louis Armstrong in it!
The story here has to do with, more or less, the creation of Atlantic City. I don’t know how true to the actual story this film is, if any, but it was quite enjoyable.
The music is gret, but then, wasn’t all music from the swingin’ 40s?
The romance and drama were a bit much for me. I guess my sickness isn’t letting me look past it and focus on the story as I normally do.
The cast, as with every other classic piece of cinema I’ve seen, prove that folks knew how to act back then and didn’t need special effects to make a great film.
Of course, calling this film great would be a stretch. Sure, it is good, but there seems to be some kind of disjointedness shortly after the halfway point.
It isn’t like it is two completely different films, but there just seems to be something not quite coherent. Sort of like a romantic comedy that suddenly becomes an action drama, for lack of a better example.
When the dust clears, I liked this picture well enough, but with the exception of the musical numbers, I probably wouldn’t watch it again. Does that mean you should feel the same way? No, but chances are you didn’t even know this film existed, and probably won’t give it a second thought unless you’re a fan of classic cinema. Do I recommend this? Yes, but don’t go out of your way to find it. For me it was just an average flick, at best.
3 out of 5 stars
