Review of Atlantic City (1944) by Ben L — 19 Jun 2014

This is one of those movies that I am so indifferent on I just can't bring myself to even write a full review. It's not that it was bad, there were a few moments that were entertaining, it was just overall so dull that I couldn't muster any passion one way or the other.

So I can't really trash it as a bad film, but I can't really praise it as a good film either. The idea of this old man who has delusions of grandeur is just not all that interesting. The few intense moments really feel cheesy when people over-dramatically grab at a fresh bullet wound or gently stab someone with a knife.

It takes away the adrenaline of those moments and makes them corny. It feels old-fashioned and lacks any excitement. The characters all seem inconsistently written. One moment Lou is a tough guy who seems very knowledgeable about the seedy underbelly of Atlantic City, and the next moment he's a goofy old guy squawking like a little kid about how he killed a guy.

In the same way Sally bounces back and forth between attraction and revulsion when it comes to Lou. It's just a muddled mess and the word that continues to come to mind when I think of it is "bland.

" I don't regret watching it but odds are, in a matter of months, I will have completely forgotten about it and not even remember what it was about.