It's hard to imagine Jack Nicholson appearing in a film like 'The King of Marvin Gardens' today. The movie is a story of an introverted broadcaster and his hustling brother; there's an air of seediness to the portrait of a run-down, early 1970s, east-coast America; of doomed hopelessness about the the huckster's implausible vision; and of a terrific sadness in the way that the broadcaster finds a touch of glamour and excitement in hanging out with his brother for a while, although the two of them have nothing in common and surely nothing is actually going to turn out right. I've heard it said that Saul Bellow's 'The Adventures of Augie March' is the great American novel because of its optimism; but this is another side of America, post-Vietnam war, a world of fraudsters, impossible dreamers, and those just hunkering down to survive. As a film, and certainly as entertainment, it's weaker than Nicholson and director Bob Rafelson's earlier 'Five Easy Pieces', primarily because Nicholson's character here is fundamentally less interesting: it's a correctly restrained performance from Jack, but playing a man who has little capacity for change, and constrained by a story that's low-key painful, rather than exciting. Yet even if this is not a fun movie, it's a telling one. Pessimism, like optimism, remains part of the American landscape, as it is in every country; but it's a shame that it's been written out of the contemporary Hollywood vision.
65 Reviews
Under-rated Rafelson flick!
shepardjessica-110 November 2004
I thought this superior to CARNAL KNOWLEDGE and am a bit surprised by the reaction to it at time of release. After FIVE EASY PIECES and before STAY HUNGRY this '72 film was thrown aside and dismissed. I guess Nicholson wasn't using his eyebrows enough for public taste. Bruce Dern gives a superb performance as his shyster-dreamer brother with big plans. Ellen Burstyn is paranoid justifiably and gives a lovely performance. The young girl Julie Ann Robinson is terrible.
A 7 out of 10. Best performance = Bruce Dern. Throw in Scatman and John Ryan and you have a fascinating mood piece. What happened to Bob Rafelson?
A 7 out of 10. Best performance = Bruce Dern. Throw in Scatman and John Ryan and you have a fascinating mood piece. What happened to Bob Rafelson?
There's no there there.
smatysia2 May 2006
I read the reviews and comments that seem to indicate a deep and insightful movie. I guess I am just a simpleton, but I simply don't get it. It seems a quiet character study type of film. It contrasts the two brothers, played very well by Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern, one as the shady hustler, and one as a semi-realist. It contrasts the two women, also played very well by Ellen Burstyn and Julia Ann Robinson, one of them nearing the end of her time wielding sexual power over men, and the other, the step-daughter, just coming into her time. It seems to compare the bleak Atlantic City winter with the age of the older woman, and the dreams of the older brother. And what's up with all the black gangsters? No, I just don't get it.
The most underrated movie of the 1970s?
Infofreak30 April 2003
Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson's creative relationship began because of The Monkees. Rafelson directing and Nicholson writing their weird and wonderful psychedelic cult classic 'Head'. After that the two teamed up for one of the early Seventies best loved movies 'Five Easy Pieces'. A couple of years later they did it again with 'The King Of Marvin Gardens', though inexplicably it doesn't have the reputation or the high profile of their previous collaboration. I really fail to see why. File it under "great lost 1970s movies" alongside 'Scarecrow', 'Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia', 'Tracks', 'Fingers' (and add your own personal favourite to the list). Marvin Gardens features a really strong and controlled performance from Nicholson in the lead role, an introverted DJ with a show in which he spins "true" tales. But even better than Nicholson is Bruce Dern, a wonderful actor who never became a superstar like Nicholson, Pacino or De Niro, despite a long career of consistently good character roles in movies by Hitchcock, Roger Corman, Walter Hill, Hal Ashby, John Frankenheimer, Elia Kazan, Sydney Pollack and many others. Dern is absolutely wonderful as Nicholson's brother, a dreamer and Mob hanger on. He comes back into his brother's life with a nutty get rich quick scheme which ends up going horribly wrong. This is one of the very best performances by Dern I've ever seen, and his scenes with Nicholson make this essential viewing for any 1970s buff. Added to that are excellent performances from Ellen Burstyn ('The Exorcist', 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore') and newcomer Julia Anne Robinson (her only movie role - too bad!) as the women in Dern's life, and nice bits from legendary musician/actor Scatman Crothers ('Black Belt Jones' and appearances in no less than four 1970s Nicholson movies) and the underrated John P. Ryan ('Runaway Train', 'It's Alive', 'Class Of 1999'). 'The King Of Marvin Gardens' is a slow and thoughtful movie, but once you get into the rhythm of it, an extremely rewarding one. One of Nicholson's best, and Dern is just dynamite. Highly recommended.
Ameican Dream
ardavan_sh200618 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
It was the 3rd movie that i've watched from Rafelson in his golden 70's era (after Five Easy pieces n Stay Hungry).
I found it brilliant. it could be named as "Five Easy Pieces,part ii". all of director's elements are present here:
the story of frustrated Americans in 70's, their alienation from their families(i just reminded that poetic sequence in the final of " 5ive Easy Pieces",where jack talks to his handicap father n the symmetric sequence in "Marvin Gardens" is at the beginning when Jack narrates a fiction story about his grandfather).
the movie truly criticizes the "American dream" and Rafelson is definitely 1 of the first directors who dared to create the story of this disillusioned generation with poetic n compelling structure.
i am afraid that i'll remember "Marvin Gardens" by one sequence n 1 quote: the scene where two brothers arrange a show to elect(!) Miss America. that's a fantastic satire about "opportunism-like" evaluation of American dream.
and the quote in near final where Jason (Dern) says: "if everything don't work out for you like magic,then it's all a mirage"...
I found it brilliant. it could be named as "Five Easy Pieces,part ii". all of director's elements are present here:
the story of frustrated Americans in 70's, their alienation from their families(i just reminded that poetic sequence in the final of " 5ive Easy Pieces",where jack talks to his handicap father n the symmetric sequence in "Marvin Gardens" is at the beginning when Jack narrates a fiction story about his grandfather).
the movie truly criticizes the "American dream" and Rafelson is definitely 1 of the first directors who dared to create the story of this disillusioned generation with poetic n compelling structure.
i am afraid that i'll remember "Marvin Gardens" by one sequence n 1 quote: the scene where two brothers arrange a show to elect(!) Miss America. that's a fantastic satire about "opportunism-like" evaluation of American dream.
and the quote in near final where Jason (Dern) says: "if everything don't work out for you like magic,then it's all a mirage"...
This movie is a hidden gem!
SenoritaTorres21 November 2006
What can I say about this film? I may not have given it 10 out of 10 but it is definitely one of Jack's better films. It is so different to anything else he has done before, in my opinion, that some people may not know how to respond but all in all they should watch it anyway, because, more than anything else, it's impressionable and very, very interesting.
The character of David Staeblar (Jack Nicholson) comes across as your average, slightly middle-class male, seeming settled in his usual daily routine of life and living comfortably with his grandfather. When he meets up with his ambitious older brother, he seems somewhat disdainful of his pathetic dreams of success in Atlantic City. You never quite understand whether David is dismissing these pipe dreams because he doesn't believe they can happen or because he is slightly jealous of his brother.
The film, above all, highlights the relationship between four people, and how they react to each other. The two brothers and the two women. Between the brothers you can sense there is a love there but there is also an underlying current of bitterness and regret, almost as though they were never that close in childhood.
Sally (Ellen Burstyn) is clearly in love with Jason but she is also terrified that his 'upcoming success' will leave her out in the cold and, despite coming across as independent and feisty, you can see she is desperately trying to cling on to a stability she craves with him. She wants people to think she's okay but really she craves security. There is anguish and real suppressed emotion there. She was considered beautiful in her day but her looks are fading and she's not getting any younger. She's constantly reminded of that when she looks at her stepdaughter Jessie. I think Ellen Burstyn played this role beautifully and truly think she deserved to win an Oscar.
Both the direction and screenplay on this movie were impeccable, and I would strongly suggest to anyone who hasn't seen this film that they rent it or buy it because it is definitely not one to be missed.
The character of David Staeblar (Jack Nicholson) comes across as your average, slightly middle-class male, seeming settled in his usual daily routine of life and living comfortably with his grandfather. When he meets up with his ambitious older brother, he seems somewhat disdainful of his pathetic dreams of success in Atlantic City. You never quite understand whether David is dismissing these pipe dreams because he doesn't believe they can happen or because he is slightly jealous of his brother.
The film, above all, highlights the relationship between four people, and how they react to each other. The two brothers and the two women. Between the brothers you can sense there is a love there but there is also an underlying current of bitterness and regret, almost as though they were never that close in childhood.
Sally (Ellen Burstyn) is clearly in love with Jason but she is also terrified that his 'upcoming success' will leave her out in the cold and, despite coming across as independent and feisty, you can see she is desperately trying to cling on to a stability she craves with him. She wants people to think she's okay but really she craves security. There is anguish and real suppressed emotion there. She was considered beautiful in her day but her looks are fading and she's not getting any younger. She's constantly reminded of that when she looks at her stepdaughter Jessie. I think Ellen Burstyn played this role beautifully and truly think she deserved to win an Oscar.
Both the direction and screenplay on this movie were impeccable, and I would strongly suggest to anyone who hasn't seen this film that they rent it or buy it because it is definitely not one to be missed.
Solid Cast, Decent Film
gavin694222 September 2014
Jason Staebler (Bruce Dern) has gone directly to jail, lives on the boardwalk and fronts for the local mob in Atlantic City. He is also a dreamer who asks his brother, David (Jack Nicholson), a radio personality from Philadelphia to help him build a paradise on a Pacific island, asking him to believe in yet another of his dreams, yet another of his get-rich-quick schemes.
While this story is good and the direction is fine, it is the cast that really sells the movie. Especially Dern and Nicholson, who had previously worked together. Nicholson and Scatman Crothers subsequently co-starred in Milo Forman's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) and Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" (1980).
To give a fair review, I would need to see the film again. So, until then, this is just a place holder.
While this story is good and the direction is fine, it is the cast that really sells the movie. Especially Dern and Nicholson, who had previously worked together. Nicholson and Scatman Crothers subsequently co-starred in Milo Forman's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) and Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" (1980).
To give a fair review, I would need to see the film again. So, until then, this is just a place holder.
Has some great pieces, but they don't add up
zetes18 August 2013
Bob Rafelson's followup to Five Easy Pieces. It's a fascinating film that really does not succeed. Jack Nicholson stars as a late night radio personality who receives a call from his estranged brother (Bruce Dern) to bail him out of jail in Atlantic City. After he does so, Dern invites him in on a major real estate deal, buying up a small island in Hawaii. There's not much plot from there. The film progresses into a series of vignettes whose relation is often difficult to determine. Basically, Nicholson, Dern and Dern's two girlfriends, Ellen Burstyn and Julia Anne Robinson, hang around Atlantic City doing weird stuff. Each scene is entertaining enough by itself, but the film doesn't really build, climaxes with a typical 70s bummer and, sort of like Five Easy Pieces, ends on an evocative bit. Here, though, it doesn't have any real meaning. Everything about it seems like a really good movie, but it just doesn't add up to be anything in particular.
Excellent character study.
ebh19 October 1999
This is a brilliant little character study from the fabulous team that brought us the classic "Five Easy Pieces". If this last reviewer didn't get it (and obvious he didn't), than that's his problem. The detail, the beautiful photography, and the incredible use of Atlantic City locations make this film all the more worth while. Shot when Atlantic City was a dying resort town, it is used as a metaphor for this strange symbiotic relationship between two very different brothers. Nicholson as the intelligent David, and Bruce Dern (never better) as the scam artist Jason, out to make a quick buck. Do yourselves a favor, and check out this little gem.
well-acted
SnoopyStyle3 October 2016
David Staebler (Jack Nicholson) is a Philly talk radio DJ taking care of his grandfather. He goes to Atlantic City to find his black-sheep brother Jason (Bruce Dern) in jail. Monopoly originated from Atlantic City and Marvin Gardens is the property right before Go To Jail. Jason tells David to find Lewis to set off a mercurial scheme to get a gambling license with Japanese investors. Jason has an even bigger plan to live big in Hawaii. Sally (Ellen Burstyn) is Jason's girlfriend and Jessica (Julia Anne Robinson) wants to be a pageant queen.
I would like this movie so much more if I understood the proper plan and what Jason is trying to do with his scheme. Jason is so weaselly that he never really explains what's going on. On the other hand, that's what so real about Jason. He's no mastermind and it could be perfectly realistic that he has no plans. The question becomes what David is thinking about. Bruce Dern is absolutely brilliant as the unstable brother. This is a well-acted movie but I don't really understand what's going on.
I would like this movie so much more if I understood the proper plan and what Jason is trying to do with his scheme. Jason is so weaselly that he never really explains what's going on. On the other hand, that's what so real about Jason. He's no mastermind and it could be perfectly realistic that he has no plans. The question becomes what David is thinking about. Bruce Dern is absolutely brilliant as the unstable brother. This is a well-acted movie but I don't really understand what's going on.
Surprising considering the leading men.
planktonrules12 September 2013
You would probably expect a film starring Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern to be emotionally charged and rather exciting. Oddly, the film is the opposite. It's very, very slow and about as exciting as a documentary about cheese making--at least the first 75% of the film. Then, things heat up--but by then, most of the folks watching this film probably will have turned it off.
The film begins with Nicholson playing David Staebler--a rather dull man who has a Public Radio sort of show in Philadelphia. Out of the blue, his brother, who he hasn't heard from in over a decade, contacts him and tells him to come Atlantic City for some 'big deal'. Once there, the older brother, Jason (Bruce Dern), tells him about some sort of casino that he's going to be running in Hawaii--but the details are very, very vague. Most of the time, however, instead of working on this deal, Jason just hangs out in a decrepit old hotel with two women--Sally (Ellen Burstyn) and Jessica (Julie Ann Robinson). As the film progresses, the deal seems more and more vague and Jason keeps making promises to David to get him to stay--all the while Sally's mood is incredibly unstable. What comes of all this, eventually, is a bit of a shocker--but not enough to make slogging through the first 75% of the film worth your time. It is interesting to see Nicholson play such a quiet and 'normal' person but other than that, there isn't much to recommend here.
The film begins with Nicholson playing David Staebler--a rather dull man who has a Public Radio sort of show in Philadelphia. Out of the blue, his brother, who he hasn't heard from in over a decade, contacts him and tells him to come Atlantic City for some 'big deal'. Once there, the older brother, Jason (Bruce Dern), tells him about some sort of casino that he's going to be running in Hawaii--but the details are very, very vague. Most of the time, however, instead of working on this deal, Jason just hangs out in a decrepit old hotel with two women--Sally (Ellen Burstyn) and Jessica (Julie Ann Robinson). As the film progresses, the deal seems more and more vague and Jason keeps making promises to David to get him to stay--all the while Sally's mood is incredibly unstable. What comes of all this, eventually, is a bit of a shocker--but not enough to make slogging through the first 75% of the film worth your time. It is interesting to see Nicholson play such a quiet and 'normal' person but other than that, there isn't much to recommend here.
A great and unusual film
cornishchristopher13 April 2004
A truly great film and sadly overlooked and under rated, following up Five Easy Pieces and showing Nicholson at his most awesome. A far better take on Atlantic City than the Louis Malle's film of that name. Incredible acting from Nicholson, Dern, Burstyn... great direction and cinamatography. The movie is set in a pre-casino Atlantic City, sort of Coney Island perfected. A real actors film that we rarely see anymore. Perhaps difficult to watch because of that yet immensely rewarding. A film that perfectly captures the time and place. Dern plays an over the top hustler while Nicholson, of all things, plays an intellectual radio dweeb. Go on... see it... "no one reads anymore..."
Jack Nicholson's opening and closing monologues are outstanding
steiner-sam13 October 2023
It's a symbolic drama set around 1970 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It follows two estranged brothers over several weeks as they follow an unrealistic dream until tragedy happens.
David Staebler (Jack Nicholson) works the overnight shift at a small radio station in Philadelphia. Part of his schtick is personal monologues about life, sometimes including his family. He lives with his grandfather (Carles LaVine). His older brother, Jason (Bruce Dern), is a fast-talking con man who sometimes works for Lewis (Scatman Crothers), a gangster. Jason lives with an erratic former beauty queen, Sally (Ellen Burstyn), and Sally's attractive stepdaughter, Jessica (Julia Anne Robinson). Jason wants David to join in a resort project based on a small island in Hawaii. He believes David's way with words can help seal a deal with potential Japanese investors.
"The King of Marvin Gardens" (the movie's title comes from the Monopoly game being based on sites in Atlantic City) follows the interactions of the four main characters as their dreams slowly fade, and the unreality of Jason's vision leads to a final tragic ending.
The film contains some outstanding scenes, including Jack Nicholson's opening and closing monologues. His performance and Laszlo Kovacs' cinematography are superior in those scenes. Other times, the script seems pretentious with overcooked symbolism. Nicholson, Dern, and Burstyn are especially strong in an uneven story.
David Staebler (Jack Nicholson) works the overnight shift at a small radio station in Philadelphia. Part of his schtick is personal monologues about life, sometimes including his family. He lives with his grandfather (Carles LaVine). His older brother, Jason (Bruce Dern), is a fast-talking con man who sometimes works for Lewis (Scatman Crothers), a gangster. Jason lives with an erratic former beauty queen, Sally (Ellen Burstyn), and Sally's attractive stepdaughter, Jessica (Julia Anne Robinson). Jason wants David to join in a resort project based on a small island in Hawaii. He believes David's way with words can help seal a deal with potential Japanese investors.
"The King of Marvin Gardens" (the movie's title comes from the Monopoly game being based on sites in Atlantic City) follows the interactions of the four main characters as their dreams slowly fade, and the unreality of Jason's vision leads to a final tragic ending.
The film contains some outstanding scenes, including Jack Nicholson's opening and closing monologues. His performance and Laszlo Kovacs' cinematography are superior in those scenes. Other times, the script seems pretentious with overcooked symbolism. Nicholson, Dern, and Burstyn are especially strong in an uneven story.
Nicely Understated, But A Little Too Bleak & Disjointed
ccthemovieman-125 February 2008
"Bleak" might be the best word to describe this typically-low life early 1970s film. There were a number of these kind of grungy films made in that decade, and this is one another of them. It's also another example of a critics' favorite that bombed with the public. People generally do not want to see depressing stories like this, but Hollywood producers/directors will crank them out anyway to please their peers.
How many films did that period did we see that were upbeat and took place in Atlantic City? Probably none. The city was a perfect setting dingy stories about losers.
The movie does feature a good cast, is nicely understated and features a bunch of character stories, but I never really found out where it was going. It wound up being a slow piece about unappealing people. Can you say "disjointed?" Is it any wonder this film was another dud at the box office, despite the cast?
SOME GOOD POINTS - It was refreshing to see Jack Nicholson playing against-type with the role of a introverted radio monologist. He didn't play too many introverts for a long time! Bruce Dern is interesting as always and if you want to see a "new" face, check out actress Julie Ann Robinson as "Jessica." This was her only role.
How many films did that period did we see that were upbeat and took place in Atlantic City? Probably none. The city was a perfect setting dingy stories about losers.
The movie does feature a good cast, is nicely understated and features a bunch of character stories, but I never really found out where it was going. It wound up being a slow piece about unappealing people. Can you say "disjointed?" Is it any wonder this film was another dud at the box office, despite the cast?
SOME GOOD POINTS - It was refreshing to see Jack Nicholson playing against-type with the role of a introverted radio monologist. He didn't play too many introverts for a long time! Bruce Dern is interesting as always and if you want to see a "new" face, check out actress Julie Ann Robinson as "Jessica." This was her only role.
To dream of baboons and periwinkles
tieman6427 September 2013
Warning: Spoilers
A 1972 film by Bob Rafelson, "The King of Marvin Gardens" stars Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern as a pair of brothers. Dern plays a fast-talking idealist, Nicholson plays a morose realist. The two gather in Atlantic City, where Dern attempts to convince his brother that an audacious business venture will prove profitable. Nicholson doesn't believe him.
The political and social events of the 1960s and 70s eventually became catalysts for disillusionment. Within the space of a few years, a generation of Americans shifted from optimism, hope and idealism to disenchantment and distrust. "The King of Marvin Gardens", its title an ironic reference to one of the more exclusive properties on the Monopoly board game, captures this Zeitgeist well. Virtually every scene features our duo battling a landscape which refuses to actualise any and all dreams, before the film ends with a bloody climax in which our dreamers get shot down. This makes for grim viewing, but Nicholson's quietly engrossing, and Rafelson constructs a number of strong, surreal scenes.
7.9/10 – Worth one viewing. See "Go Go Tales".
The political and social events of the 1960s and 70s eventually became catalysts for disillusionment. Within the space of a few years, a generation of Americans shifted from optimism, hope and idealism to disenchantment and distrust. "The King of Marvin Gardens", its title an ironic reference to one of the more exclusive properties on the Monopoly board game, captures this Zeitgeist well. Virtually every scene features our duo battling a landscape which refuses to actualise any and all dreams, before the film ends with a bloody climax in which our dreamers get shot down. This makes for grim viewing, but Nicholson's quietly engrossing, and Rafelson constructs a number of strong, surreal scenes.
7.9/10 – Worth one viewing. See "Go Go Tales".
"Nobody down here got any pageantry at all anymore".
classicsoncall11 August 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I don't think I've ever seen a duller movie with so many big names in it before. Interminable scenes between characters get so bogged down one forgets what they were talking about in the first place. Virtually any 'B' Western has more energy than this film, even if it's endless horse chases or bunkhouse brawls. I must admit, Jack Nicholson's opening scene with the grandfather/fish story was a pretty good hook to bring the viewer into the picture, but it sure went downhill from there. When it was revealed that the monologue was actually part of David Staebler's 'Et Cetera' radio program, I immediately wondered whether he'd get a visit from authorities investigating what sounded like his grandfather's homicide. Yeah, I know, his grandfather survived, but one wonders if he would have committed suicide if forced to watch this movie. Quite honestly, the one spark of retro delight I got out of the picture was catching that huge 'Tan Hawaiian Tanya' billboard early in the story. As for the rest, I'll go with Dave's own recommendation to his radio partner - "Edit all that out, Frank".
An uncommon and out of place role for the legendary Jack yet still a good film of a brother conflict that ends tragic.
blanbrn1 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
"The King of Marvin Gardens" certainly isn't a Nicholson gem because his character he plays is so uncommon and laid back when Jack mostly took roles of the anti-hero, and rebel types, yet the film is interesting enough with conflict to be interesting. Nicholson is David Staebler a Philadelphia radio announcer who has a talk show in which he does monologue only to one day get a call from his slick and crooked brother Jason(Bruce Dern) who's been jailed. The film then shifts to the boardwalk of Atlantic City, NJ where the two brothers bond and plan new directions with hopes and dreams of money thru scams and mob business all to buy hotels, casinos and live on an island. The conflict of two different brothers David who's like light and Jason like dark really carries the film just enough to keep it interesting. Ellen Burstyn does add a little style and spice as the aging beauty caught between the two brothers. In the end the film takes a tragic turn and David returns to his talk radio in Philly. Really this film isn't a 70's classic in my opinion it moved a little slow and Nicholson's character though not boring seemed out of place, I'm use to seeing Jack having more complex and different roles. To sum it up it's still worth a watch the scenes of A.C. are great and the film gave pretty good sight into the 70's mob culture of gambling and casino business.
gamble it up, gamble it down
lee_eisenberg22 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Having scored a triumph with "Five Easy Pieces", Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson reunited for "The King of Marvin Gardens", a convoluted look at tension in Atlantic City. Nicholson is noticeably more subdued here than he was in "FEP" - meaning no "stick it between your knees" scene - but still does a good job, as a Philadelphia DJ summoned by his brother (Bruce Dern) to help with a scheme. Also starring is Ellen Burstyn; I'm still trying to figure out the meaning of that scene where she cuts her hair.
All in all, "TKOMG" isn't any kind of masterpiece, but worth seeing. Sort of a precursor to Louis Malle's "Atlantic City", the movie truly gives one the feeling of urban decay. Jack Nicholson sure looks strange wearing glasses. Also starring Scatman Crothers, a few years before he and Nicholson horrifically co-starred in "The Shining".
All in all, "TKOMG" isn't any kind of masterpiece, but worth seeing. Sort of a precursor to Louis Malle's "Atlantic City", the movie truly gives one the feeling of urban decay. Jack Nicholson sure looks strange wearing glasses. Also starring Scatman Crothers, a few years before he and Nicholson horrifically co-starred in "The Shining".
I'd like to have seen role reversal
emuir-112 July 2008
I am only giving this film a 6 as I found it rather dull, and having never played Monopoly the inference to the game went right over my head. Instead I found myself wondering what the film would have been like with Jack Nicholson playing the extroverted Jason, and Bruce Dern as David. As a primer for actors, which is what the movie seemed to be, more than an entertainment for an audience, it would have been interesting to see a back-to-back version with the roles reversed.
Certainly, the film had the same downbeat theme as "The Last Detail" which I thoroughly enjoyed, and the setting of the off-season seaside town added to the bleak atmosphere. There is nothing more depressing than a sea coast resort in winter. I kept wishing that David would tell his brother to get lost and go back to Philly. The characters, a petty crook and two women of no fixed abode were pathetic losers and, with the exception of David, living in a fantasy of their own making. At least David asked some down to earth questions once in a while. The bullying user, Jason, really got on my nerves - his "everyone else is there to serve my needs" attitude made me cringe, especially the way he turned on people who did not share his "vision".
Certainly, the film had the same downbeat theme as "The Last Detail" which I thoroughly enjoyed, and the setting of the off-season seaside town added to the bleak atmosphere. There is nothing more depressing than a sea coast resort in winter. I kept wishing that David would tell his brother to get lost and go back to Philly. The characters, a petty crook and two women of no fixed abode were pathetic losers and, with the exception of David, living in a fantasy of their own making. At least David asked some down to earth questions once in a while. The bullying user, Jason, really got on my nerves - his "everyone else is there to serve my needs" attitude made me cringe, especially the way he turned on people who did not share his "vision".
A quiet masterpiece
calabazas21 May 2006
A classic from of the New American Cinema The King of Marvin Gardens is one of the most underrated films of the 70. The film stars Bruce Dern and Jack Nicholson (cast against type as an introverted depressive) as a pair of estranged brothers reunited in Atlantic City to try to get scam artist Dern's ill-conceived property development dreams off the ground. Ellen Bursten rounds out the cast as an ageing beauty queen struggling with the realisation that her young protégé, played by the previously and subsequently unknown Julia Ann Robinson, has surpassed her. Shot in a bleak, wintry Atlantic City that contrasts sharply with Dern's vision of a happy ending for the quartet in Hawai'i, the film is a compelling and meditative character study that doesn't shy away from or glamorise the problems of the people who inhabit it. The three leads give superb performances as characters who are all in their disparate ways seeking redemption. Made in the brief period of the 1970s when the big American studios were hoodwinked into financing films that were singular, intelligent, and challenging, The King of Marvin Gardens is a must see for any fan of the cinema.
More like the Prince of Baltic Avenue
Katz530 June 2021
This is a very frustrating film, regarded by critics and viewers as either a misunderstood film from Bob Rafelson, or an ego trip. To me, it lands somewhere right in the middle of the praise and criticism. The best thing about it is Jack Nicholson, who gives one of his rare introverted, quiet performances (The Pledge and About Schmidt are two more recent examples of this mode of Nicholson). Nicholson plays a radio personality who seemingly tells stories and self-confessions all night to anyone up at 3 AM in Philadelphia willing to listen. He lives with this grandfather (the subject of one of Nicholson's stories that opens the film), and seems to be stuck in a permanent rut.
Enter his grifting brother, played by Bruce Dern in a performance that only Dern could deliver. Dern calls from Atlantic City asking to be bailed out of jail (Monopoly reference #1). Nicholson is pulled into another in a seemingly endless series of pyramid schemes promoted by his brother, who has somehow convinced his current lover and her stepdaughter to come along for the ride. The scheme involves resort investment on a small island near Hawaii (but not one of the Hawaiian islands). Atlantic City is shown in its decay mode of the late '60s and early '70s, and apparently was open for total on-location filming: The Boardwalk, Marvin Gardens, Park Place, the Steel Pier, the old Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel, and many other AC landmarks before gambling was legalized and the face of the city changed. The cinematography (courtesy of legendary Laszlo Kovacs) is the best thing about the film, besides Nicholson's performance.
Ellen Burnstyn plays Dern's lover and her step-daughter is played by Julia Anne Robinson, who sadly passed away in the mid '70s when her apartment building caught fire. There is nothing really remarkable about Burnstyn's character - she's not given much to do. The highlights are her cutting her hair off and burning them in a big beach bonfire, and the film's climax, which I will not give away.
This is a character study and requires the patience, and attention, of the viewer. Better than A Safe Place and Drive He Said in the BBS box set, but not as good as Five Easy Pieces, Last Picture Show, Easy Rider, or even Head. Also, Scatman Crothers appears as an Atlantic City gangster, sharing a scene with Nicholson some 8 years before they'd meet again in The Shining.
Enter his grifting brother, played by Bruce Dern in a performance that only Dern could deliver. Dern calls from Atlantic City asking to be bailed out of jail (Monopoly reference #1). Nicholson is pulled into another in a seemingly endless series of pyramid schemes promoted by his brother, who has somehow convinced his current lover and her stepdaughter to come along for the ride. The scheme involves resort investment on a small island near Hawaii (but not one of the Hawaiian islands). Atlantic City is shown in its decay mode of the late '60s and early '70s, and apparently was open for total on-location filming: The Boardwalk, Marvin Gardens, Park Place, the Steel Pier, the old Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel, and many other AC landmarks before gambling was legalized and the face of the city changed. The cinematography (courtesy of legendary Laszlo Kovacs) is the best thing about the film, besides Nicholson's performance.
Ellen Burnstyn plays Dern's lover and her step-daughter is played by Julia Anne Robinson, who sadly passed away in the mid '70s when her apartment building caught fire. There is nothing really remarkable about Burnstyn's character - she's not given much to do. The highlights are her cutting her hair off and burning them in a big beach bonfire, and the film's climax, which I will not give away.
This is a character study and requires the patience, and attention, of the viewer. Better than A Safe Place and Drive He Said in the BBS box set, but not as good as Five Easy Pieces, Last Picture Show, Easy Rider, or even Head. Also, Scatman Crothers appears as an Atlantic City gangster, sharing a scene with Nicholson some 8 years before they'd meet again in The Shining.
Over-rated
JoeytheBrit22 October 2005
David Staebler (Jack Nicholson) is a late-night DJ who delivers rambling monologues that are presented as truth but which are really false. His brother, Jason (Bruce Dern) is a low-ranking mobster with grand plans to open a casino on an island near Hawaii. Jason summons David to Atlantic City to support him in his scheme, and he arrives to discover Jason embroiled in a strange relationship with fading beauty Sally (Ellen Burstyn) and her stepdaughter, Jessica (Julia Anne Robinson).
We have here Bob Rafelson, Jack Nicholson and the early seventies, so I suppose we don't get anything we shouldn't really expect. Rafelson's career and reputation had not yet descended to the point where he was directing with increasing infrequency 'artistic' soft porn and he still had a reputation as someone to watch; Nicholson was enjoying his new-found standing with a tendency to appear in 'serious' and 'intelligent' work instead of playing himself in every film as he has done for the past ten to fifteen years, and the early Seventies were the last great period of Hollywood movie-making in which films were green-lighted on consideration of criteria other than the their ability to appeal to the lowest common denominator. They were good times for movie-making in America, but there was a downside over-indulgent and pretentious tosh like this.
David Staebler is a dull and repressed character who does nothing other than occasionally twitch his nose like a rabbit. He observes things and he talks into his tape recorder but he plays little part in the events that take place on the screen. Even when he does eventually do something it changes nothing. His brother, played by an energised Dern, is the exact opposite: where David's feet are planted firmly on the ground, Jason's are floating up there in the clouds, and he is forever hustling. Jacob Brackman's flat and unconvincing screenplay spends the film's entire running time emphasising this disparity between the brothers to little effect. The character of Sally, played with real tact and sympathy by Burstyn, and her odd relationship with Jason is more interesting for the viewer, and the metaphor between her ageing beauty and the fading grandeur of the Atlantic City location is impossible to miss. As pointed out by other reviewers, however, that ending is a real cheat it's cheap and unimaginative and is only a notch or two above the 'he woke up to discover it was all a dream' cliché and it's no small wonder that Brackman's film-writing career failed to go anywhere.
This isn't an overlooked classic, it isn't under-rated and it doesn't deserve to be rediscovered. It's pompous, pretentious, self-important and largely meaningless. Only the good work by the first-rate cast gives it any merit to speak of.
We have here Bob Rafelson, Jack Nicholson and the early seventies, so I suppose we don't get anything we shouldn't really expect. Rafelson's career and reputation had not yet descended to the point where he was directing with increasing infrequency 'artistic' soft porn and he still had a reputation as someone to watch; Nicholson was enjoying his new-found standing with a tendency to appear in 'serious' and 'intelligent' work instead of playing himself in every film as he has done for the past ten to fifteen years, and the early Seventies were the last great period of Hollywood movie-making in which films were green-lighted on consideration of criteria other than the their ability to appeal to the lowest common denominator. They were good times for movie-making in America, but there was a downside over-indulgent and pretentious tosh like this.
David Staebler is a dull and repressed character who does nothing other than occasionally twitch his nose like a rabbit. He observes things and he talks into his tape recorder but he plays little part in the events that take place on the screen. Even when he does eventually do something it changes nothing. His brother, played by an energised Dern, is the exact opposite: where David's feet are planted firmly on the ground, Jason's are floating up there in the clouds, and he is forever hustling. Jacob Brackman's flat and unconvincing screenplay spends the film's entire running time emphasising this disparity between the brothers to little effect. The character of Sally, played with real tact and sympathy by Burstyn, and her odd relationship with Jason is more interesting for the viewer, and the metaphor between her ageing beauty and the fading grandeur of the Atlantic City location is impossible to miss. As pointed out by other reviewers, however, that ending is a real cheat it's cheap and unimaginative and is only a notch or two above the 'he woke up to discover it was all a dream' cliché and it's no small wonder that Brackman's film-writing career failed to go anywhere.
This isn't an overlooked classic, it isn't under-rated and it doesn't deserve to be rediscovered. It's pompous, pretentious, self-important and largely meaningless. Only the good work by the first-rate cast gives it any merit to speak of.
about as low-key as 70s movies get (that's a compliment)
Quinoa198429 September 2006
The King of Marvin Gardens was Bob Rafelson's experiment at doing a film where the leads are switched around- the actors playing them, anyway. You rarely get to see Jack Nicholson in the role of the quiet, observant, and really more intuitive characters in any film, and to see it in his prime in-between doing films like Carnal Knowledge and The Last Detail is a revelation. Every once in a while he pulls out a performance that is attuned to a sensibility that is surprising, even if the film is not. One of those that worked best was About Schmidt. But this time in Rafelson's vision, he plays second fiddle to the more personable, idealistic, talkative, pushy, and far more conflicted brother played by Bruce Dern. For Dern this is also a somewhat different role, as he often could play roles with a good deal of dialog well, though with also a lowered guard. Here he plays a guy with lots of ideas, and those of which he really wants to impress upon his more detached but not too unresponsive brother. It's a mix that works, though it's very understandable why I've only seen it once, and not only do I not really desire to see it again, it's not too much of a wonder why its still one of the real underrated films of the 70s.
Keep in mind it's not just the men to see here, but Ellen Burstyn too, in one of her other great parts of her real prime, as she plays Dern's depressed, loopy, over-the-top girlfriend. She has her counterpart too in Julie Anne Robinson. Her character is maybe a little more like Nicholson's, though not really as withdrawn. These are all characters who are estranged, if not from themselves then from each other, and amid the big plans in the (correctly chosen) sights of dreary Atlantic City they're cast against a glow that just poses a kind of nothingness for them. And in the end, when tragedy strikes, it finally comes when the emotional cork gets pulled completely off. And bookending the film are Nicholson's monologues on the airwaves to his listeners, whomever they may be, and they're some of my favorite scenes I still remember from the film. If it's less than really memorable and affecting like the best of 70s subversive cinema, it's because its content in its low-key ways. It's a smart movie that isn't really at the heights of Five Easy Pieces- Rafelson's masterpiece that's also low-key in its way but reaches higher in psychological hang-ups- but it does come as close as anything the director's done since. Most noteworthy is the challenge of reversing the roles for Nicholson and Dern pays off in that independent-film way. Look for Shining co-star Scatman Crothers in some scenes late in the picture.
Keep in mind it's not just the men to see here, but Ellen Burstyn too, in one of her other great parts of her real prime, as she plays Dern's depressed, loopy, over-the-top girlfriend. She has her counterpart too in Julie Anne Robinson. Her character is maybe a little more like Nicholson's, though not really as withdrawn. These are all characters who are estranged, if not from themselves then from each other, and amid the big plans in the (correctly chosen) sights of dreary Atlantic City they're cast against a glow that just poses a kind of nothingness for them. And in the end, when tragedy strikes, it finally comes when the emotional cork gets pulled completely off. And bookending the film are Nicholson's monologues on the airwaves to his listeners, whomever they may be, and they're some of my favorite scenes I still remember from the film. If it's less than really memorable and affecting like the best of 70s subversive cinema, it's because its content in its low-key ways. It's a smart movie that isn't really at the heights of Five Easy Pieces- Rafelson's masterpiece that's also low-key in its way but reaches higher in psychological hang-ups- but it does come as close as anything the director's done since. Most noteworthy is the challenge of reversing the roles for Nicholson and Dern pays off in that independent-film way. Look for Shining co-star Scatman Crothers in some scenes late in the picture.
Seems Almost Intentionally Without Purpose
TheFearmakers14 July 2019
Who knows, maybe directors never really outgrow their primal, rudimentary, symbolic, allegorical, idealistically pretentious, metaphysical, narcissistic, nostalgic mindset of film school: And in that, following what would forever remain their collaborative pinnacle, FIVE EASY PIECES director Bob Rafelson gave his close friend and future multi-collaborator Jack Nicholson a break from the (possible) stereotype of being the discontented, blunt, feisty rebel type, which he's proven... even in early Roger Corman vehicles and Richard Rush biker flicks... which he was perfectly suited for...
Then again, maybe he should have played Bruce Dern's conniving con-man older brother Jason Staebler, on the stumbling verge of an Atlantic City land deal with a few obstacles including a potentially dangerous kingpin (Nicholson's three picture co-star, Scatman Crothers) and especially his women...
Dern, though, is nicely suited for the part, and while stretching as an actor is a good thing, Jack's bookish underdog comes across as awkward, and in holding back what we know of his limitless range, somewhat frustrating to witness... Then again, MARVIN GARDENS centers on the combination of an Alpha Male and Beta, so it simply takes time getting used to Nicholson as a complete pushover in the little brother part of David, who Dern's Jason controls and manipulates, and uses. But the struggling Philadelphian has only in philosophically what he lacks financially...
The film opens with a relatively long pre-credit one-shot take of Nicholson's David, spinning a long yarn (without his usual vocal styling that he'd be accused of lazily falling back on in years to come) centering on his father and grandfather. The camera pans back slowly from an Extreme Close Up (ECU for scriptwriters) to reveal his artistic trade as a radio disc jockey - not the kind that introduces songs but some kind of storyteller; an occupation suited for a low budget, avant garde film: a quirky job given to characters who have time to go on a journey, with no timecards hindering them.
During his mid-early prime years, this opening monologue - in an obscure film wedged between FIVE EASY PIECES and (arguably) his best performance in Hal Ashby's THE LAST DETAIL - seems like a dream come true for Nicholson fans, but winds up more of a bedtime story for wayward beatniks (the grandfather of hipster's)...
A pallid vibe that dogs the rest of an otherwise beautiful looking canvas where, in real life, behind the scenes, Rafelson's crew had to lug heavy equipment to the upper floors of the main location's New Jersey/Atlantic City hotel room just so flying birds could be visible in the background - indeed a labor-of-house motion picture with a slowly moving landscape...
Which can and should be all Dern's to own. He's the kind of unapologetic wheeler-dealer able to keep two ladies intact; a subtle hooker team-up that has Ellen Burstyn's intense and determined Sally with her tag-along, younger and (arguably) prettier step-daughter, Jessica, played by a little known actress, Sally Ann Robinson, who, in a way, fits the era more than anyone else - while Burstyn attempts to fill the "real deal dame" ala Karen Black of FIVE EASY PIECES, Robinson provides the Susan Anspach with sun-drawn, long-haired, natural beauty - who Bruce (as this film's Jack) is really after...
Experiencing Burstyn somewhat wasting her talent (or perhaps remaining overly subdued, like Jack) on a seemingly non-scripted actor's workshop is like Nicholson's role as the vehicle's blown-out front tire - stuck on the passenger's side since Dern is left to (symbolically speaking since you can walk through Atlantic City) drive the piece, and he's fun to watch as more a sociopath than his usual psychopath...
But KING OF MARVIN GARDENS, in which everything, down to the very title, is so ambiguously lacking in plot and overall structure, no one character's able to shine beyond the washed-out aesthetic of a town resembling colorful learning blocks leftover from a ambitious night's work. In that, what Dern's really after is told to us up front, but he never seems to really want anything but time with his brother - hell, maybe that's the hidden depth and meaning of the entire picture...
Because there's an addictive, laid-back aura throughout, making the exterior-set arthouse independent film one to re-watch if you want to get anywhere at all, and so not to waste two-hours of Nicholson in his edgy youth taking another path entirely...
The only scenes really difficult to survive are whenever the dimensionless main cast suddenly alter personality traits - as Jack's necessary "moral conscience" turns into a sporadic b.s. artist while Dern sits silent and proud feels like on-the-spot improvisation, which is a good thing but only when it flows through the dialogue and not just with it...
Then again, this sudden shift-of-mood winds up working in our favor when Burstyn's energetic yet melancholy Blanch Dubois version of a "gangster's moll" narrows her wry grin into what ultimately becomes an important element in this character-studied, grownup student film, reflecting the waning days of the counter-culture movement, done finding themselves and left to search for what's completely out of reach - while "lot's of money" is the easiest answer, it's really up to the audience to decide.
Then again, maybe he should have played Bruce Dern's conniving con-man older brother Jason Staebler, on the stumbling verge of an Atlantic City land deal with a few obstacles including a potentially dangerous kingpin (Nicholson's three picture co-star, Scatman Crothers) and especially his women...
Dern, though, is nicely suited for the part, and while stretching as an actor is a good thing, Jack's bookish underdog comes across as awkward, and in holding back what we know of his limitless range, somewhat frustrating to witness... Then again, MARVIN GARDENS centers on the combination of an Alpha Male and Beta, so it simply takes time getting used to Nicholson as a complete pushover in the little brother part of David, who Dern's Jason controls and manipulates, and uses. But the struggling Philadelphian has only in philosophically what he lacks financially...
The film opens with a relatively long pre-credit one-shot take of Nicholson's David, spinning a long yarn (without his usual vocal styling that he'd be accused of lazily falling back on in years to come) centering on his father and grandfather. The camera pans back slowly from an Extreme Close Up (ECU for scriptwriters) to reveal his artistic trade as a radio disc jockey - not the kind that introduces songs but some kind of storyteller; an occupation suited for a low budget, avant garde film: a quirky job given to characters who have time to go on a journey, with no timecards hindering them.
During his mid-early prime years, this opening monologue - in an obscure film wedged between FIVE EASY PIECES and (arguably) his best performance in Hal Ashby's THE LAST DETAIL - seems like a dream come true for Nicholson fans, but winds up more of a bedtime story for wayward beatniks (the grandfather of hipster's)...
A pallid vibe that dogs the rest of an otherwise beautiful looking canvas where, in real life, behind the scenes, Rafelson's crew had to lug heavy equipment to the upper floors of the main location's New Jersey/Atlantic City hotel room just so flying birds could be visible in the background - indeed a labor-of-house motion picture with a slowly moving landscape...
Which can and should be all Dern's to own. He's the kind of unapologetic wheeler-dealer able to keep two ladies intact; a subtle hooker team-up that has Ellen Burstyn's intense and determined Sally with her tag-along, younger and (arguably) prettier step-daughter, Jessica, played by a little known actress, Sally Ann Robinson, who, in a way, fits the era more than anyone else - while Burstyn attempts to fill the "real deal dame" ala Karen Black of FIVE EASY PIECES, Robinson provides the Susan Anspach with sun-drawn, long-haired, natural beauty - who Bruce (as this film's Jack) is really after...
Experiencing Burstyn somewhat wasting her talent (or perhaps remaining overly subdued, like Jack) on a seemingly non-scripted actor's workshop is like Nicholson's role as the vehicle's blown-out front tire - stuck on the passenger's side since Dern is left to (symbolically speaking since you can walk through Atlantic City) drive the piece, and he's fun to watch as more a sociopath than his usual psychopath...
But KING OF MARVIN GARDENS, in which everything, down to the very title, is so ambiguously lacking in plot and overall structure, no one character's able to shine beyond the washed-out aesthetic of a town resembling colorful learning blocks leftover from a ambitious night's work. In that, what Dern's really after is told to us up front, but he never seems to really want anything but time with his brother - hell, maybe that's the hidden depth and meaning of the entire picture...
Because there's an addictive, laid-back aura throughout, making the exterior-set arthouse independent film one to re-watch if you want to get anywhere at all, and so not to waste two-hours of Nicholson in his edgy youth taking another path entirely...
The only scenes really difficult to survive are whenever the dimensionless main cast suddenly alter personality traits - as Jack's necessary "moral conscience" turns into a sporadic b.s. artist while Dern sits silent and proud feels like on-the-spot improvisation, which is a good thing but only when it flows through the dialogue and not just with it...
Then again, this sudden shift-of-mood winds up working in our favor when Burstyn's energetic yet melancholy Blanch Dubois version of a "gangster's moll" narrows her wry grin into what ultimately becomes an important element in this character-studied, grownup student film, reflecting the waning days of the counter-culture movement, done finding themselves and left to search for what's completely out of reach - while "lot's of money" is the easiest answer, it's really up to the audience to decide.
Silent conspirators
moonspinner5518 February 2017
Jack Nicholson plays the host of a radio talk-show program in Philadelphia who is reunited with Bruce Dern, his ne'er-do-well older brother, also a hustler and promoter for black gangsters, after Dern's been jailed in Atlantic City. Meeting Nicholson at the train station is Dern's aging mistress Ellen Burstyn, who is traveling with her comely stepdaughter. A dramatic acting exercise for the three stars is a cautious, interesting effort--but not an exciting one. Producer-director Bob Rafelson, who also originated the story with credited screenwriter Jacob Brackman, aligns all his shots with an artistically jaundiced eye but intentionally shows no heart. He and Brackman are careful to give their principal characters a fully-rounded background (we perceive that each of them has been through a hellish lot), and yet this story of family and unreachable dreams is sluggish and morose, filmed in wintry washed-out color by cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs. Some viewers are intellectually stimulated by Brackman's literate dialogue, and yet the film has been drained almost entirely of humor, so that Nicholson's nebbish (a man we might possibly connect with) merely seems a submissive malcontent, careful with his words but robotic and aloof. ** from ****
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