Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actor 1981

The Contenders:

Paul Newman: Absence of Malice
Dudley Moore: Arthur
Burt Lancaster: Atlantic City
Henry Fonda: On Golden Pond (winner)
Warren Beatty: Reds

Best Original Screenplay 1981

The Contenders:

Absence of Malice
Arthur
Atlantic City
Chariots of Fire (winner)
Reds

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actress 1981

The Contenders:

Susan Sarandon: Atlantic City
Meryl Streep: The French Lieutenant’s Woman
Katharine Hepburn: On Golden Pond (winner)
Marsha Mason: Only When I Laugh
Diane Keaton: Reds

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Director 1981

The Contenders:

Louis Malle: Atlantic City
Hugh Hudson: Chariots of Fire
Mark Rydell: On Golden Pond
Steven Spielberg: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Warren Beatty: Reds (winner)

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Picture 1981

The Contenders:
Atlantic City
Chariots of Fire (winner)
On Golden Pond
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Reds

Betting Against the House

Film: Atlantic City
Format: DVD from NetFlix on laptop.

Film noir is an American film style, but it was defined by the French. That being the case, it’s not that surprising that a French director would pick up on the style and do something with it. What Louis Malle decided to do was make Atlantic City, a very strange neo-noir. This is an odd movie, one that manages to strike at the heart of what a noir should be but also turns out to be something different.

It starts with a guy named Dave (Robert Joy) stealing a package of drugs from a pickup in Philadelphia. He takes the package to Atlantic City in the hopes of making money by selling off what he’s found. There’s a part of him that realizes that he’ll be pursued, so he looks for a way to ditch the stash quickly. It doesn’t help that he’s got the additional baggage of Chrissie (Hollis McLaren), who is pregnant. In Atlantic City, they hunt down Sally (Susan Sarandon). This is awkward because Sally is simultaneously Chrissie’s sister and Dave’s wife.