The King of Marvin Gardens Movie Review

Frequent Jack Nicholson director Bob Rafelson turns in this oddball -- and sad -- movie about two brothers, one a radio DJ (Nicholson) and one a drifting low-level mobster (Bruce Dern). Nicholson's character gets reluctantly drawn into his scheme in Atlantic City, where Dern is trying to finance the purchase of an island off the coast of Hawaii, where he plans to build a dream resort. Don't bet on it. Depressingly set along Atlantic City's infamous boardwalk, the movie closely resembles, oddly enough, Louis Malle's Atlantic City. Memorable performances from the players, including Ellen Burstyn as a psychotic girlfriend of Dern's.