I really wanted to like this movie. After seeing "Atlantic City" with Burt Lancaster, I wanted to see this earlier film, as it was set in the same dying seaside town. On that note, I was not disappointed, as "King of Marvin Gardens" really does showcase Atlantic City as it was, for better or for worse. The better being the beautiful hotel used for filming, by the early 70's a bit run down (Like the rest of the USA it would seem) but it still had loads of charm, and old school grandeur. Alas, the hotel was torn down for the banal glass box Bally's casino, in 1978. A sad ending to a once fabled resort hotel.
Be that as it may, the movie is similarly lost. Two great leads, Jack Nicholson, as David Staebler and Bruce Dern as Jason Staebler, are IMO wasted in a film that plods along. I spent nearly the whole film waiting for something to happen, but like Dern's scheming character, it really was for naught. The climax, not as shocking as I'd expected, and the ending, rather anti-climactic. But I guess that was the point of the whole movie, how two brothers, one a depressed radio personality, and the other a con artist dreamer, wind up exactly as they were meant to.
Supported by Ellen Burstyn, and Julia Ann Robinson, as two women are along for the ride with Jason's con. The whole thing has a very dreary feel to it. The most interesting piece of casting, would be Scatman Crothers as Lewis, the defect boss of Atlantic City, but we see so little of him, that it's hard to really get a feel for the character. He shows very small bits of menace, but it's never really explored further. A real shame, as I was really looking forward to seeing Crothers as the heavy.
All in all, a great postcard of pre-gambling Atlantic City, but that's about it unfortunately.
Be that as it may, the movie is similarly lost. Two great leads, Jack Nicholson, as David Staebler and Bruce Dern as Jason Staebler, are IMO wasted in a film that plods along. I spent nearly the whole film waiting for something to happen, but like Dern's scheming character, it really was for naught. The climax, not as shocking as I'd expected, and the ending, rather anti-climactic. But I guess that was the point of the whole movie, how two brothers, one a depressed radio personality, and the other a con artist dreamer, wind up exactly as they were meant to.
Supported by Ellen Burstyn, and Julia Ann Robinson, as two women are along for the ride with Jason's con. The whole thing has a very dreary feel to it. The most interesting piece of casting, would be Scatman Crothers as Lewis, the defect boss of Atlantic City, but we see so little of him, that it's hard to really get a feel for the character. He shows very small bits of menace, but it's never really explored further. A real shame, as I was really looking forward to seeing Crothers as the heavy.
All in all, a great postcard of pre-gambling Atlantic City, but that's about it unfortunately.