June 6, 2002.

"- Would you like them sent?"

"- Yeah, uh...  To Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan."

"- Moose... Jaw?"

"- It's near Medicine Hat."

"- ..."

Starring Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Michel Piccoli, Hollis McLaren, Robert Joy, Moses Znaimer, Robert Goulet, Al Waxman and Kate Reid.  Music by Michel Legrand.  Written by John Guare.  Produced by Denis Héroux.  Directed by Louis Malle.  Released by Paramount in 1981.

Back in 1980, Atlantic City was in a period of transition.  Legalized gambling has arrived in town and the Boardwalk was being transformed into an Eastern Las Vegas outlet.  However, not only was the town itself being transformed into something different (not better, just different), the townspeople were also changing in their own way.  Two of these people include Lou and Sally who despite being neighbors in the same building slated for demolition, could just as well be located on different continents.  Lou is a has-been from the previous Golden Era of Atlantic City when the biggest events in town were beauty pageants and seaside tourists.  He is now something of a "man-servant" for a local aging beauty queen who has seen better days.  Sally is a girl originally from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan who would rather live in a big American city working as a Casino dealer than spend the rest of her life stuck in a small Canadian town.

During a stint at a Casino's oyster bar, Sally is "greeted" by  her husband Jack and her very pregnant sister Chrissie.  And guess who's the father of the child!  Sally still hasn't filed for divorce yet, so officially Jack is still her husband.  Her attempts at starting a new life in Atlantic City could be derailed by their presence.  Before showing up into town, the couple stole a huge stash of drugs from a drop-off point in Philadelphia with the intention of selling the junk in Atlantic City.  But what the couple doesn't know is that the "legitimate" owners of the drugs want their property back!  And they'll stop at nothing to get back what is theirs.

Somehow, Jack manages to con Lou into helping him sell some of the drugs to a local client.  Unfortunately, the owners of the drugs show up and start chasing after Jack!  Now Lou is left with a supply of drugs, and he doesn't know what to do with it.  But the two goons don't know this and start going after Jack's wife Sally thinking she may know where's the remainder of the drug supply.  Lou tries his best to help out Sally out of her current predicament without spilling the beans on what is actually going on.

The Canadian town of Moose Jaw was trashed pretty heavily in this movie.  How could it be any worse than living in Atlantic City, a town where the slums are only a couple of blocks away from the strip of Casinos along the seashore?  Despite the promises of major improvements, all the arrival of the casinos have managed to accomplish in Atlantic City is change the appearance of the boardwalk without actually improving the remainder of the city, an observation that has been pointed out in more than one occasion on the Internet and in other movies.

This observation is directly reflected on the main characters of the movie who pretty much follow the same path.  The story here is how Lou and Sally become unwilling accomplices to the events occurring around them and how they manage to cope.  By the end of the movie, their lives haven't really improved for the better, they've simply been altered, just like the city itself.  The story is very well presented without being overbearing, offering us decent and off-beat entertainment for an hour and a half.  Director Louis Malle's directing style is simple and straightforward while at the same time offering us a few interesting glimpses in Atlantic City's transformation from a summer tourist attraction to a heavy duty gambling town.

The performances by all are definitely top-notch despite the low production value of the movie.  But as the movie progressed, I had the sneaky feeling this was actually a Canadian movie.  There were plenty of Canadian actors in the cast.  Al Waxman ("King of Kensington"), Louis Del Grande ("Seeing Things"), Harvey Atkin ("Meatballs")...  Even Moses Znaimer, the head of CHUM and City-TV played one of the goons!  I actually had to call CHUM to confirm this because his appearance and behavior in this movie do not reflect at all how he is viewed from within his own company -- at least from what we see on TV.  Final confirmation of the international status of this movie was established in the closing credits where it was revealed this movie is actually a Canadian-France cooperation.  No American movie studio was involved in it's production.

Picture

1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen.  The image is a bit grainy and there's a brownish overcast throughout the movie.  Considering the time period the movie was made (Atlantic City's "Rebirth" or "Afterbirth" depending on your point of view), the picture quality of this transfer could be considered appropriate for the subject matter at hand.  The image is very stable, revealing minimal dirt and dust and pretty much no film damage.  Time may have been unfriendly towards the color balance, but the print used in the transfer was at least reasonably intact.

Sound/Subtitles

Dolby Digital 2.0 mono.  It certainly sounds like it.  Overall, the sound is very flat, lacking both low bass and clear highs.  It's like listening to a bucket of mud.  There's a bit of audible tape hiss which may or may not distract you from the movie depending on the sensitivity of either you or your sound system.  Vocals are audible even though they do sound a bit unnatural, again due to the muddy quality of the soundtrack.

There are no alternate language tracks and only English subtitles are included.

Features

Only the theatrical trailer.  And it's riddled with spoilers.  Don't watch the trailer before watching the movie!

Final verdict

This is a movie with a well developed storyline and an interesting cast of characters.  Many people called this movie a masterpiece, but I only see it as being very good.  The DVD itself is basically a "movie only" release, offering us what was available at the time.  The only real complaint here is the quality of the sound which should have been better, especially for a movie that was made back in 1981.

Picture		Video	1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen
Sound		Audio	ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 2.0
Story		Subtitles	English
Features		Features	Theatrical trailer
Value		Final word	A Canadian movie disguised as an American movie.  The dead giveaway was the high number of recognizable Canadian actors in the cast.