g-bodyl
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is an entertaining, well-respected film created by the legendary Martin Scorsese. Marty opened the eyes of movie-lovers all over the world with his 1973 film, 'Mean Streets." He further opened eyes a year later with this film. Despite the film be entertaining to watch, it also shows the director has better days ahead of him. Through all of cinema history, an issue in Hollywood has always been women and their lack of representation. I think it was a necessary, but bold move for Marty to tackle a film that shows life through a woman's eyes. On the whole, the film smoothly changes between drama and comedy. There are some intense dramatic moments, but there are some laugh-out-loud moments. Especially when it came to the interactions between mother and son.Martin Scorsese's film is about a woman named Alice, who is a housewife. After her abusive husband dies in an accident, Alice embarks on a road trip with her only son to find a better life for themselves. But that is easier said than done. Alice learns many things about life as well that finding love may still exist.The film features many fine performances, with Ellen Burstyn in particular. She does a mighty fine job as Alice, the woman seeking a new life. Her interactions with her son are rather nutty and quite genius. Speaking of which, Alfred Lutter does a good job as her son. He can be annoying sometimes, rather admittedly. Kris Kristofferson does a good job in one of his first roles as a romantic interest of Alice. Finally, I liked Diane Ladd's performance as the waitress co-worker of Alice who gets through lifer with quite an attitude.Overall, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is a really good dramedy about searching for meaning in life. It may not be Martin Scorsese's best feature, but he is learning fast. The story and the performances are top-notch, given the very low budget. But sometimes the tone of the film and how it can quickly change takes me out of the film every here and then. But it's a well-written film that delivers consistent performances and now we all know what to expect from a Scorsese film.My Grade: B+
jzappa
Martin Scorsese's first Hollywood studio production begins as a takeoff on the Hollywood illusion little girls were supposed to keep in their consciousness not all that long ago. The screen is inundated with a beautiful artificial. l sunset, and a lovable little girl comes ambling home past sets that look salvaged from Duel in the Sun. But her imaginings and lines distinctly deal very little sugar: This young lass is gonna do it her way. That was her rebellious youthful fancy, at least. But by the time she's thirty-five, Alice Hyatt has essentially fallen into society's pattern. She's married to an unforthcoming truck driver, she has a precocious adolescent son, she fills in the hours chewing the fat with the neighbors. And then without warning she's left widowed and, maybe worse, self-supporting. After all those years of having someone there, can she manage by herself? When she was a girl, she admired Alice Faye and resolved to be a singer when she grew up. Well, that's now. She has a garage sale, sells the house, and embarks on a trip through the Southwest with her son and her ideas. What happens to her en route offers one of the most understanding, sometimes hilarious, sometimes upsetting portrayals of an American woman I've seen, made fittingly in a time when half of all families hurting for money were female-headed single parent families.The first production to allow Scorsese the financial freedom to develop a slicker visual style has been both harassed and supported on a feminist basis, but I feel it goes somewhere beyond precise sets of dogma, perhaps in the sphere of its period's legend and idealization. There are scenes where we take Alice and her voyage completely straight-faced, there are scenes of distressing reality and then there are other scenes, mainly some uproarious parts in the now famous diner where she eventually waits tables, where Little Italy's most famous AFI Lifetime Achievement Award winner skirts delicate but lively exaggeration. There are points, to be sure, when the movie seems less about Alice than about the thoughts and fantasies of many women roughlyher age, who relate to the liberal equality of other women, though hesitant on the matter of themselves.A movie like this relies as much on performances as on direction, and there's a first-rate one by Ellen Burstyn as Alice. She looks less affected than she did in previous great performances as Cybil Shepherd's available mother in The Last Picture Show or as Linda Blair's beleaguered mom in The Exorcist. Alice is the sort of character she can settle down as, be straight with, let progress spontaneously. She's resolute to find work as a singer, to "continue" a career, and she's attractive enough, although not talented enough, to practically make it. She meets some generally decent folks along the way, and they help her when they can. But she also meets some slime, mainly a deceivingly nice one. The singing jobs don't turn into much, and it's while she's waitressing that she encounters a divorced young farmer.They fall carefully in love, and there's an attention-grabbing relationship between Kristofferson and Alfred Lutter, who does exceedingly good work of playing a particular type of twelve-year-old boy. Most women in Alice's shoes probably wouldn't bump into a well-situated, sympathetic, and unattached young farmer, but then several things in the film don't succeed as sheer reason. There's some fairy tale to them, as Scorsese creeps up on his key theme.The movie's teeming with giftedly crafted individual scenes. Alice, for instance, has a confrontation with a fellow waitress with a brilliant vernacular. They become friends and have a guileless and candid chat one day sunbathing. The scene is brilliantly shot and acted. There's also the certain manner in which her first manager pins himself into offering her a singing job, and the way Alice bids farewell to her long-standing neighbors, and how her son perseveres in clarifying a joke that could only be appreciated by a twelve-year-old. These comprise the increasingly engaging expedition of Alice Hyatt.
ElMaruecan82
Alice is a pearl … she's the kind of everyday heroine the world needs today … in French, they call them "mere courage" meaning literally "mother bravery" and God, I respect this woman, and I respect Martin Scorsese, the one who made the ultimate guy movies, for having dedicated such a great film for women, those misunderstood wonders of the world that we, men, use, to make ourselves feel like men … God bless you, Marty ! and Bravo, for Ellen Burstyn, for having portrayed such a character! Alice, what a wonderful name, she reminds me of a poor little girl plunged in a surrealistic world where everything seems against her … I don't know if it's an homage to Lewis Carrol's titular heroine, the fact is that this film is a psychological road movie in the soul of a fragile creature that has a bad day, a long bad day, that tunnels us in the deepest fears and sentimental problems that a woman in the middle of the 70's could encounter ... and I sincerely hoped, all through the film, that this tunnel would end in a light of hope … Light is not something this movie lacked, Ellen Burstyn's smile is the sunshine that enlightened my heart, and made me wish that her dream to become a singer would finally be true … but this is a dream, and she's Alice. Marty, I know you're smart enough, and I didn't expect a happy ending, nor a cynical one, this is a movie about women, about mothers, and I'm glad that you handled it with the respect we all owe to our mothers, our women … Not that I'm surprised, but I was worried, and I'm glad that all ended that ended well for her … The story of Alice started with a homage to the "Wizard of Oz", a nice touch to remind us that sometimes our dreams are part of a sort of surrealistic world that doesn't take today's harshness into consideration … not surprising though, that 27 years later, we find Alice as a devoted mother trying to balance between an annoying but harmless little brat and a dominating husband figure … from the beginning, we understand one thing, that dear Alice needs a break, but need in Scorsese's movies are not necessarily fulfilled, not without the touch of fate anyway, the same touch that decided to precociously make Alice, a widow ...But a widow is not the character that suits her, she basically can't live without a man, why? Because despite everything, this is not a feminist movie, it's about reality, idealization leads to disappointment while realism provides hope, the same hope that guided Alice to look for a better future for her, and her child … "mere courage" again. Crisis and opportunity are almost synonyms in the world of Alice, she's always about to breakdown BUT never does. That's the very aspect of her personality, she's so fragile that she needs a man, but not enough to become dependent.Marty, you were a precocious genius, because even though you probably didn't understand women … who did and who will, anyway? … You directed a movie with all the humility in your heart and let women guide you, to make us understand the truths that lie beneath the beauty … they can be singers, wives, widows, or waitresses, these poor little souls are the greatest thing God ever created. And WE, we, men, don't deserve them.Indeed, what I learned from Alice, Bea, or Flo is that there's a whole universe inhabiting these hearts, and we try to gain self-respect, we try to affirm our masculinity in the most cowardly way, by reducing to dominated objects those creatures who just want to be protected, understood, loved, and we're too weak to admit how needy we are … We all need women … and I'm glad, you Marty, didn't caricature the purpose of the film, by making all the men equal to Donald, a decent but rude guy, or Ben, Harvey Keitel, a brief but powerful performance. We have something in common with them, but there's an inner David in us, Kris Kristofferson as the man who redeemed us all.David is the good guy, with a living and a need of love, no surprise he immediately felt for Alice … but there was the boy, the product of a spoiled education worsened by the absence of a fatherly figure, this could have lead to the worst clashes, but Marty's film is more lighthearted than what I'd thought, and it's better this way. It's not a female version of Taxi Driver, despite the presence of a superb Jodie Foster, in a promising performance. It's an inspiring film where Alice will finally have the break she always dreamed of.Alice, after facing so much brutality, and others expressions of masculine weakness, will finally find the strength in its most honest and even clumsy way, but clumsy for a man almost means sincere … and I was glad that despite everything, she ended up, with David … will she become a singer? Will she fulfill her dreams ? At least she's with a man ... but this is not a male victory, the real winner is Alice and no one else.This is a movie about women, but made by a man and it couldn't have been more honest and sincere about the way we treat our wives and mothers … we're bad, we're flawed, but God knows we need them … the movie is like a humble cinematic apology, from one of the greatest directors of his generation, and allow me to be among those who say : "Sorry for the way we treat you". I love your films, Marty, I loved Alice and God knows how I love women … and Mom, especially
