There hasn't been a more enveloping, more desolating - or for that matter funnier - put down of America in years.

A cult classic about fading dreams that has curiously improved with age.

The wintry Atlantic City is brilliantly evoked; the firecracker dialogue is a joy, and the final, chaotic denouement is genuinely unexpected.

The heavy touch probably belongs mostly to scriptwriter Jacob Blackman... Rafelson pulls off some striking scenes, but he's never on top of Brackman's dull symbolism and gassy chatter, and finally it buries him.