The King of Marvin Gardens

REVIEW
An enthralling drama fueled by a poignant story of the American Dream lost and the dynamic acting of Nicholson, Dern and especially Burstyn. Nicholson is David Stabler, a quiet, almost mousy late night Philly D.J. who is pulled out of his staid life when his volatile, always-in-trouble brother (Dern) calls from an Atlantic City jail. Traveling to an off-season, geriatric-filled pre-casino A.C., David is sucked into his brother's grandiose scheme of easy money, willing women and ownership of a small Hawaiian island. Nicholson ably plays off his boisterous image as the shy loser given one last chance. Dern is maniacal as the naive dreamer/crook and Burstyn, in perhaps her most affecting role, plays a wacked-out, aging beauty queen fearful that she's run out of chances and who slowly realizes that her Prince Charming is only a double-dealing toad. Another star of the film is Atlantic City itself, a seedy, forlorn dead end at the edge of a cold, empty ocean. One of the most underrated and accomplished films of the 1970s.