Film review: The King of Marvin Gardens

Dir. Bob Rafelson. Starring Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, 104mins

Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson's next film after Five Easy Pieces was another downbeat character piece, and the latter's performance as a depressive talk-radio DJ is one of his most interior and restrained; it's Bruce Dern and Ellen Burstyn who are the wild-eyed dreamers and dangerous self-deceivers of the piece.

The faded glamour of off-season Atlantic City provides a melancholy backdrop.