Review of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) by Michael C — 13 Oct 2010

For Fans Of: Romantic Drama, Best Actress Winners, Scorsese.

Date Night: Approved.

Art Factor: Low.

Fun Factor: Medium.

Emotional Factor: Medium.

Intelligence Required: Low.

Essential Viewing: No (casual fans) Yes (students of film).

For a director who doesn't cast very many females as his lead actor, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore should come as a very big suprise. Ellen Burnstyn was more than deserving of her Best Actress Oscar and what other Scorsese movie can claim to have spawned a tv show? Burnstyn, know to most modern fans as the older lead in Requiem For A Dream, is a sad case of an actress undervalued by time. She has a magial quality to her on camera. An amazing ability to switch gears and tones in her performances at the drop of a hat, Burnstyn runs the gammet of emotions in this one. Not up there with his best of the 70's, but really, what is? Not much is the answer. For people that find alot of Scorsese's work a tad to in your face, this one is alot easier. Now most of that chill you find here comes from the source material, but alot of it has to do with Scorsese's subtle use of movment in this one. I love that after really gaining some recoginition for Mean Streets, he chose to make a rom-dram. That is the sign of a true genius as a director. One who is willing to take chances with his source material and then make it work. And oh how he makes it work. Like in Mean Streets, we continue to see the development of one of Scorsese's trademarks, the killer soundtrack. It is one of his calling cards, and he def. leaves it here. If you are serious about telling people that you are "into Scorsese", than you kinda have to be considered a bit of a fibber until you watch his lesser or less famous (depending on your point of view) works. I think you will start to find that most are just lesser known.