Review of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) by James H — 27 Feb 2005

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is an interestingly predictable film. It plays out like any romantic comedy-drama, actually. It's a pleasant picture focusing on the human condition: any domestic engineer could easily relate to Alice's struggles as a single mother and to her grief at the loss of her husband or to the regret she feels toward giving up her singing career in the first place. Yet, it ends exactly when and how one would expect it to end. It's a film that takes few risks and, therefore, feels marginally formulaic.

This, as it turns out, is an interesting position to take on a Scorsese film, since his films are frequently the opposite of formulaic (except, insofar as he is deviating from his own tried and true directorial formula). It seems that he made a studio picture that feels like a studio picture. There were hints of his trademark panache: quick camera wipes to set the scenes, an opening montage of Alice as a child that seemed to pay homage to Gone With the Wind and the Wizard of Oz, but otherwise, this film was more about being a star vehicle, a means by which to showcase Burstyn's performance, rather than a stretch for a hip, up and coming director.

Burstyn gave a fine performance. Her singing voice aside (which was not actually that good, so the suspension of disbelief regarding any throng of patrons following her performances just couldn't be had), Alice experienced every emotion possible, and Burstyn convincingly portrayed all of them. It's Alice's story, though, and if Burstyn could not handle the role, this film would have tanked like lead in water. Diane Ladd as the charmingly abrasive Flo was also very funny, and Kris Kristofferson gave a fine performance - not too much of an acting stretch for him, either, but he was a well-matched love interest for Alice.

Criticism of this film and its story has centered on the fact that Alice's choice between family and career is too oversimplified, too trite, too black-and-white to be realistic. Yet, every woman is different, and especially in earlier decades like the 70s in the years following flower children and burning bras, many women were still following traditional routes of playing house and raising children for their working husbands. To pretend that there was some kind of universal surge in career women so shortly after Vietnam and Woodstock would be disingenuous at least, and, let's face it, not all women today juggle both career and family. Thus, Alice's decision was realistic, and her ending nervous breakdown and ensuing demands of David, suggesting that the two can be blended, proves to be poignant sociological commentary.

Still, the bottom line is this is just another romance in the annals of romance films that could have been directed by anyone. The fact that Scorsese directed it is surprising but easily forgotten once the picture begins to play.