Review of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) by Bill T — 14 Jul 2009

I'll admit, American movie making reached a feverish creative peak during the 1970's. With films such as Taxi Driver, Dirty Harry and of course, The Godfather, Hollywood was certainly on a creative roll. I am really not too certain whether 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore' belongs there though. The story, of course, focuses around Alice, a financially struggling mother who decides to move away to Fresno for a new life with her kid. They take a pit stop in Arizona though, because she runs out of cash and her car breaks down. When she is forced to take a waitress job to make ends meet, she soon finds out that life and love is where you make it, even if that means shacking up with Kris Kristofferson.

I guess the big problem I had with this movie is that it really doesn't seem to go anywhere. Oh sure, Alice goes to all sorts of places, but the story hardly moves at all. And to be honest, I didn't think Ellen Burstyn's performance wasn't all the revolutionary. Oh sure she's all right, dynamite in some places. But Academy Award worthy? Nah. Even worse is the kid who plays her son, who immediately gets on your nerves and stays that way thoguhout the movie, whether he's meaning to or not. Funny when Jodie Foster comes on the screen (looking a lot like Macaulay Culkin by the way) , she just acts CIRCLES around the guy. But actually, my favorite performance in the movie has to be from Harvey Keitel as the lonely salesman who has too many skeletons in the closet lol.

So this isn't a movie I wouldn't highly recommend if you were doing research on the 1970's wave of film-making, (heck, or even 1970's television shows, with 'Alice'.).