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Genres:
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Crime /
Drama
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Release:
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Director:
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Bob Rafelson
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Actors:
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John P. Ryan,
Scatman Crothers,
Sully Boyar,
Garry Goodrow,
Arnold Williams,
Imogene Bliss,
Julia Anne Robinson,
Charles LaVine,
William Pabst,
Ann Thomas,
Tom Overton,
Jack Nicholson,
Bruce Dern,
Ellen Burstyn,
Josh Mostel
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Duration:
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104 min.
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Rating:
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(6.3/10)84
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Plot Summary:
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'It's Monopoly out there'. Jason Staebler, The King of Marvin Gardens, has gone directly to jail, lives on the Boardwalk and fronts for the local swoop down on in Atlantic City. He is also a idealist who asks his relation, David, a radio persona from Philadelphia to advise him build a paradise on a Pacific Island - asking him to be convinced of in in spite of another of his dreams, yet another of his leak out-rich-quick schemes. But luck is against them both and the scheme ends badly - palpable sustenance reduced to drama.
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Tags:
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King of Marvin Gardens, The
Jack Nicholson stars in this overlooked but brilliant American tragedy. Nicholson is a melancholy and withdrawn late-night DJ living amid the faded glamour of Atlantic City
Jack Nicholson and director Rafelson followed up the acerbic Five Easy Pieces with this low-key study of two brothers with very different ideas of what constitutes happiness. Like its predecessor, it's a film about the unravelling of 1960s idealism, strikingly shot and featuring an uncharacteristically restrained performance by Nicholson.
Reclusive David Staebler (Nicholson) is hosting a cultish radio show when he's contacted by his scam-artist brother, Jason (Dern). Sucked into Jason's latest business venture - to open a casino on a Pacific island - and then his complicated perso...
They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To
When reviewing American films of the 70s in his film guide, Leslie Halliwell would often wistfully embark on a 'they don't make them like they used to' tirade, criticising New Hollywood and mourning the classic studio cinema of the 30s and 40s. Things have come full circle as I am now also thinking 'they don't make them like they used to'. Thoughtful, subtle and intelligent cinema like the 'King of Marvin Gardens' is not the norm in Hollywood now and it makes most of what passes for independent cinema today look shallow, commercial and clumsy. Indeed it is easy to forget that this was basically a mainstream film put out by a big studio. Nicholson's nuanced performance, deliberately letting Dern's character take centre stage also serves to remind us w...
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