Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)

Martin Scorsese's fourth feature, a rare anomaly in his oeuvre where a female protagonist is at the helm of the entire story, since maestro can be addressed as anything but a woman's director, but in fact, it is an Ellen Burstyn's star-vehicle, and Scorsese was the young talent being picked by her personally for the project, it won Burstyn an Oscar, a hard-earned victory over Gena Rowlands in A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE, in hindsight.Burstyn plays our titular heroine, Alice Hyatt, a housewife in New Mexico, trapped in a fraught marriage with his offish husband Donald (Bush), who will soon bite the dust and once he is out of the picture, the newly-widowed Alice decides to pick up her old passion to be a lounge singer to sustain the family, and brings their 11-year-old son Tommy (Lutter), to her hometown Monterey, California, to restart her long-abandoned career and at the same time, earns some money en route.The first stop is in Phoenix, Arizona, Alice is fortuitous enough to find a job in a local bar in the first day of her arrival, but an ill-fated romance with a testy nut-case Ben (Keitel), which halts suddenly in a violent episode, forces them to flee the town as soon as possible, here, Scorsese's regular Keitel, chews the scenery with another love-it-or-hate-it explosion which can be categorically repulsive to watch.The next stop is Tucson, where Alice accepts the job as a waitress in a local greasy spoon owned by Mel (Tayback), where she befriends a brusque fellow waitress Flo (Ladd, whose accessibly flamboyant turn wins her a first Oscar nomination), and encounters a divorced rancher David (Kristofferson), this time, it seems that she finds the right man (after a rambunctious interlude concerns their difference on her method of raising a child), but what about her original plan in her hometown, should she give it up or stick to her dream?Ellen Burstyn wondrously shows her chameleonic facades to unpick Alice's emotions and reactions in a full gamut, also nails the singing and piano-playing parts, her voice is unadorned, far from impressive, but pulses with a feeble quality which very much appropriate for Alice's lot. Alice's relationship with Tommy, is the most contentious takeaway of the film, it seems that their spontaneous dynamism which makes them interact more like friends than a mother and her son, creates many hearty moment with great comic response, but in the third act, when the overstatement of Tommy's spoilt nature is tapped as the ultimate igniter of the fall-out between Alice and David, it is totally at the expense of Tommy's characterisation, although Alfred Lutter III's naturalistic performance is gold, his Tommy turns out to be an utter brat, self-centred, petulant and annoying, so what is the point? One can only blame his upbringing, which must be Alice's fault, she spoils her son, and almost ravages a perfect relationship, but on the other hand, David, under his charming and avuncular miens, he is an abandoner at the first place, that's my major beef about the otherwise pretty scintillating script.The film starts with a sound-stage gambit, a homage to the old-time big studio production in its heyday, and apart from Scorsese's immaculate taste in music, his consistently fluid camera movement promises that he is more than just a hack-for-hire in the cutting-edge business, he is willing to go out on a limb if he is given the right material, and two years later, he would take audience's breath away with TAXI DRIVER (1976).

A recently widowed woman (Ellen Burstyn) is on the road with her precocious young son, determined to make a new life for herself as a singer.First and foremost, I must give credit to Jodie Foster. Although she may not have gotten really famous until later with "Silence of the Lambs", her early work on films like this one and "Taxi Driver" are to be commended. She had a strong personality from the get-go and it shows.Credit must also be given to Martin Scorsese. He is probably best known for his gangster movies, and indeed the story goes that Ellen Bustyn did not know if he knew how to direct women. Based on this film, I think he can. Burstyn obviously carries the film and likely could have succeeded with any director, but they work well together and this adds an interesting entry to Scorsese's filmography.

Winner of Best Actress for Ellen Burstyn and nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Diane Ladd and Best Original Script for Robert Getchell and directed by one of the greatest directors of all time, Martin Scorsese, not to mention, the inspiration of the long- running Emmy Award winning TV series, "Alice", "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore", takes you on journey of finding opportunity in the big world out there and overcoming huge obstacles to achieve the pinnacle of independence when the going gets tough. It's a simple tale of a widowed mother with very little cash takes her husband's death as an opportunity to follow an ambition that was stalled due to her loyalty in her husband and her son Tommy (Alfred Lutter III). The story is saturated with abuse, rejection, mother and son disputes and the love for each other that comes between these wedges. But through all the clawing and scratching towards Alice's not so perfect, the movie most of all is filled with optimism that anyone can fill their dreams if they have the drive to reach it. One of the best traits about this movie is that it refrains from being overly artistic or poetic. It succeeds in making every scene as real as possible which makes it more interesting an provocative. The performances are what we've really came to see. Ellen Burstyn is a legendary actress and she truly exhibits her amazing acting ability and was showcased to near perfection. She truly catches your heart and the hearts among millions of fans who have watched this emotional comedy-drama. The story, her character and the flow of the story will melt your heart faster than a snowman in a microwave. Even though I always find road trip movies are the laziest scripts ever put on film, "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" succeeds in keeping every scene and dialogue real. The mother and son interaction between Alice and Tommy are rich and very convincing. It is what you would expect from how a mother converses with her son. Their conversations will have you laughing and will likely have you in tears, but no matter what, there is seldom a dull moment when Alice and Tommy are together. Alice knows that she was not always the perfect mother and that she's doing everything she can to repair the damaged relationship between her and her son. And even though she's screwed up once too many times for us to even care about her, there is still that little light out there that makes us root for her in her quest to find happiness and to rectify the situation she has to build the love and faith towards her son. You can't dismiss Alice by not trying to give her son the life he deserved and like always kids rebel that way feeling that their needs and wants are more important than the fact that you can't always get what you want. Together they keep us engaged and really reflect on the younger audience who may have had verbal matches with their parents. But in the end the love between them is the ultimate compromise each one embodies and that makes this film worthwhile.Burstyn was amazing in her role as Alice Hyatt. Sure she was imperfect and it makes you cringe after one stupid decision after another we realize that no one is perfect and everyone at one time has done stupid things. In the end, I cared about her and her son and wanted very much to see her emerge victorious in achieving her goals whether little ones or ones that are more complex. Rounding out the supporting cast that had me intrigued was the performance from Harvey Keitel as Ben. He was just outstanding even though he was sadly underused. At one point in the movie, he seemed very likable at first but without warning, he goes 360 digress and before you know it he becomes a real jerk. He comes across as a warm guy with a trusting smile, but then later we didn't expect him to be a two-timing wife-beating a-hole. Keitel can play those kind of characters in his sleep. The other character that got my attention was the tough,mouthy hard-working waitress Flo Castleberry played by Diane Ladd. Alice eventually ended up working as waitress at a greasy spoon diner run by the shrewd cantankerous owner Mel Sharples (Vic Tayback). Ladd truly deserved her Best Supporting Acrress nomination. Many people get frustrated for not caring about people and the situations they're in, but to me, my anguish stems from caring way too much. I wanted to see Alice succeed. I wanted Tommy to get a better life for himself once he reaches adulthood. The story-telling is custom made to keep you on your toes and we root for them like we do when the Yankees beat the Red Sox in baseball or vice versa. And what's really great is that it's not the end all for Alice and Tommy, but just the beginning of their new lives and that it'll be a long time before settling in. This truly is a very underrated from Martin Scorsese and truly one of the best films in 1974.

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