Editing Atlantic City (1980 film) (section)

==Plot==
Sally Matthews is a young waitress from [[Saskatchewan]], Canada, working at an oyster bar in an [[Atlantic City]] casino. She has dreams of becoming a blackjack dealer, going through dealer training under the tutelage of Joseph. Joseph, from France, encourages her to learn French and become a dealer in [[Monte Carlo]].

Sally's estranged husband Dave and her pregnant sister Chrissie show up one day with the intention of selling a $10,000 ({{Inflation|US|10000|1980|fmt=eq|r=-3}}) bag of [[cocaine]] he had stolen from a mob [[dead drop]] in [[Philadelphia]]. Sally is outraged to see him, as he had impregnated Chrissie and run off with her. Dave meets Lou, an aging former gangster who lives in Sally's apartment building and runs a small time [[numbers game]] in poor areas of the city; Lou also acts as a caretaker for Grace, a seemingly bedridden, aging beauty queen whose gangster husband he used to work under, and who constantly berates and demeans him. Dave convinces Lou to sell the cocaine for him, but as Lou sells the first batch to Alfie, who runs an illegal poker game in a hotel room, Dave is attacked and killed by the mobsters from whom he had stolen the drugs.

Lou is left with the remaining cocaine and continues to sell it to impress Sally, whom he has long pined for, with money. Sally and Lou make love one day, but she returns to her apartment to find it trashed; she has been tracked down by Dave's killers, who beat her to find out if she has the drugs. They leave, but Lou laments not being able to protect her. Grace also reveals that Lou was a small-time crook and nowhere near as competent as he pretends.

Sally is fired from the casino when her late husband's criminal record is discovered. Lou sells most of the remainder of the cocaine, while both Sally and the mobsters discover Lou's affiliation with Dave. The mobsters corner them one night, but are killed when Lou produces a gun and shoots them. He and Sally then steal their car and leave Atlantic City. That night, from a motel, they watch the TV news reporting on the killing. A police sketch of the suspect is shown. It looks nothing like Lou. Lou is overjoyed with relief and pride. He confesses to Sally that this was the first time he has ever killed anyone.

At the motel the next morning, Lou takes the phone to the bathroom to call Grace and brag about the killings. Sally wakes and takes half of the money with the intention of sneaking off; Lou witnesses this, allowing her to leave and giving her the car keys so she can escape to France, rather than go to [[Miami]] with him. Lou returns to Atlantic City to be with Grace. Working together, they sell the remaining portion of the cocaine and walk off arm in arm with renewed respect for each other.