ScoobyWell Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

tangreat-bk A Martin Scorsese movie with a female lead? Sign me up.This has got to be the funniest film in Scorsese's filmography. I wasn't really expecting it to be. It's not like it's trying to be funny. All the humor grows organically from the characters. And that's the best kind.There are some great scenes in this movie. Loved the opening. I think it really set up the movie. I was hooked throughout. Part of it is due to Ellen Burstyn's is incredible performance. The supporting performances are also good. Harvey Keitel almost steals the scenes in which he is in.This is a sweet movie filled with a heart. But that doesn't mean it's some glossed up version. All the problems Alice faces are real. There are no neat resolutions. There is a little roughness ...a little grittiness.It's an odd film in Marty's filmography. More of this please!

I-Am-The-Movie-Addict 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.

bkoganbing I had never seen Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More, but I had seen the Alice TV series which was taken from this film. If you think you're going to see a lot of situation comedy here, disabuse yourself of that notion. This original film is as serious as a crutch about a recently widowed woman Ellen Burstyn trying to both raise her adolescent son and find her own fulfillment. Part of Burstyn's identification is that she was named after her mother's favorite film star Alice Faye and has aspirations as a singer. But when we meet her she's settled down in her marriage to probably not the greatest catch in the world in Billy Green Bush and their son Alfred Lutter,III. They live pretty much paycheck to paycheck.But when Bush is killed in an automobile accident, Burstyn wants to move from Socorro, New Mexico back to Monterey, California where she grew up and where she felt truly happy. So they take to the road and the story really starts from there.Ellen Burstyn got her career role and a Best Actress Oscar for this film. It's one multi-layered performance, especially in her scenes with Lutter whose hormones are starting to kick in and he's a handful. She gets into a bad relationship while lingering in Phoenix with a married man whom she didn't know was married. Her scenes with Lane Bradbury as the wife and the psychotic Harvey Keitel when she learns what a violent psychotic he is are devoid of dialog for the most part on Burstyn's part. But her expressions contain so much meaning. Keitel should be commended for his performance here also.In fact after both Bush and Keitel, Burstyn's understandably gun shy when she meets rancher Kris Kristofferson. Is Kristofferson the real deal or is Burstyn just afraid? And how will young Mr. Lutter factor in? For that you need and should watch Alice Doesn't Live Her Any More.The film also got Oscar nominations for Robert Getchell's original story and screenplay and for Diane Ladd as her fellow server at Mel's Diner in Tucson. Ladd's is not the comic performance from the Alice TV series that Polly Holiday was. But she's been around the block a few times and has some sage advice for all who listen. Vic Tayback is the only member of the film cast to repeat his role in the TV series. His Melvin Sharples is subdued here, he really gets to shine on the small screen.Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More was directed by Martin Scorsese and is a timeless film. Absolutely could be remade today and try to figure out who could play these parts with today's players.

SnoopyStyle Alice Hyatt (Ellen Burstyn) is a long-suffering housewife in New Mexico. However, she is still devastated when her emotionally abusive husband is killed. She decides to sell off everything, pack up the rest and drive to California with her son Tommy. She tries to get singing gigs along the way which she abandoned when she was younger. She sleeps with Ben (Harvey Keitel) but he turns out to be abusive and married. In Tucson, she takes a waitress job in a diner owned by short-order cook Mel (Vic Tayback). Flo (Diane Ladd) and Vera (Valerie Curtin) are the other waitresses. Alice falls for diner customer David (Kris Kristofferson). Tomboy Audrey (Jodie Foster) gets Tommy into trouble.Ellen Burstyn is an amazing actress. She's asked to play a complicated character that grows and changes. She's a meek housewife at the start. She struggles with everything especially her son. She's a tough cookie. The only thing truly missing from her is a good singing voice. This is from Martin Scorsese. Without Harvey Keitel and Jodie Foster, it wouldn't occur to me that he's the director. He's coming off of 'Mean Streets'. This is not about gangsters. It's about a single mom. He does get the lower class grittiness and he leaves the single mom characterization to Burstyn. Diane Ladd is also terrific as the loud-mouth Flo. The plot does meander like Alice's journey. The shooting is documentary style. It's not surprising that the diner turns into a TV show. It's filled with possibilities. It may have been more compelling to get there sooner.