Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)

Memorable, crazy movie

Fantastic!

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Martin Scorsese who is now known for his crime epics like Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Casino, Gangs of New York and The Departed among others like dirty-realism Taxi Driver, sports Raging Bull, comedy The King of Comedy and After Hours, revenge thriller Cape Fear and dramas from various lives like Boxcar Bertha, New York, New York, The Color of Money, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Age of Innocence, Kundun, Bringing Out the Dead, The Aviator, Shutter Island, Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street and the latest Silence.But no one to only some in those ones, remembers about a film that is more deeper than what it shows us on the surface and the film i am talking about is Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is one such film that needs a special attention, reverence and deservedness that it have been eluded for years since 1975 with a revival of re-screening among audience and lovers of cinema of Martin Scorsese.this film has all the real life components that touches one's heart and shows exactly of how's one life as a discouraged mother, a crack- brain son and as a wife of a husband whom she married but doesn't finds love between them even after his sudden death and a lost and redeeming father gets up when life hits hard and makes us lose all of our softness.this film if i am not wrong is also a tribute that Martin Scorsese pays to his mother, Catherine Scorsese who raised her up under difficult circumstances.All of the actors such as Ellen Burstyn who plays the role of a mother, widowed wife and as aspiring singer; Alfred Lutter as her son who is looks un-fittable in the surroundings he is living under; Diane Ladd as a waitress who is hard to understand but is soft to understand others; Valerie Curtin as another waitress who is fragile and acts like a leaf all the time; Kris Kristofferson as David who has lost his family by not standing for them and wants to redeem through by helping Alice & Tommy as his own and last by the least, Harvey Keitel as Ben who charms his way to get Alice but is un- shadowed of what he is when he shows his true self to her while fighting with Lane Bradbury as Rita: have done their best and full of realist act.so, if you haven't a got a DVD of their yet, get it now since it's hard to get.

This is the foundation for the TV show, Alice. This is a much more complex study in characters under stress. Alice is trying to do what is good for her son, even though he is a fragile ego, unable to cope very well with their peripatetic ways. She does everything she can but this is a good study of the forces that come into play when a single woman tries to take it on the road with a child. We get to meet the whole range of characters. The gregarious Flo and Mel (Vic Tayback who reprised the role on television), as well as a set of interesting customers and acquaintances. While she tries to find love it evades her. This movie is not earth shatteringly complex, but it does give us some memorable moments.

I'm sorry, I really hated this film. It was dull. It was tiresome. It drags on and on. And I'm sorry to say but I cannot stand Ellen Burstyn as an actress. She just irritates me and she is so shallow as an actress. I don't know how people cast her in movies. She T-A-L-K-S S-O S-L-O-W-L-Y. Her slow speaking is distracting. She has no depth, charisma or chemistry. And, her singing in this movie made me CRINGE. How abominable. How uninspiring.Diane Ladd is another story. This woman is beautiful to look at and has a certain chemistry and depth and reality that you just don't see very much anymore.Anyway, I think this movie could have been better had it been cast with a different actress then Ellen Boring Burstyn.

Widowed mother Alice Hyatt (Ellen Burstyn) sets off on the road to find a living for her and her son, 11 year old Tommy (Alfred Lutter). She ends up in Tucson AZ and gets a job as a waitress in a diner. There she meets David (Kris Kristofferson) and falls in love with him. But is he what she wants or needs? An excellent comedy drama about a woman trying to find herself and what to do after her husband dies. Burstyn (in an Oscar winning performance) is just perfect in the role. You see her struggling and wondering what she wants. Also Lutter is her son and he's not ignored. You also see him struggling to fit in and fall in with the wrong person--Audrey (played by a VERY young Jodie Foster). The script is fantastic full of sharp observations on love, life and sex. There are also plenty of genuinely funny one-liners to lighten the mood. All the acting is great too. I never thought Kristofferson was much of an actor but I like him here. Also Diane Ladd is great (and also Oscar nominated) as Flo--another waitress. There's also a ridiculously youthful-looking Harvey Kietel in a small role. This is a great film. It does end rather conventionally (it seems Alice and David will end up together) but that's a small complaint.This led to the long-running sitcom "Alice" which was MUCH different in tone. Only Vic Tayback recreated his role for the series and later Ladd came back as Flo also. It's still hard to believe that Martin Scorsese did this. Recommended.