Review of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) by Adam W — 27 Feb 2009
A lovely, imperfect movie; not an obvious Scorsese one but with plenty to recommend it. The relationship that keeps the movie going isn't between Alice (Ellen Burstyn) and the advertised love interest, played by Kris Kristofferson (who doesn't even appear until over an hour in), but rather between her and her soon-to-be-twelve-year-old son.
The mother-son dynamic is lively and truthful. Her first love interest is Ben, superbly played by Harvey Keitel, who seems so sweet and innocent that it's not surprising he's neither. Harvey Keitel is only in the movie briefly, but the contrast between his harmless facade and the scene where he loses his temper is one of the most frightening violent outbursts in a Scorsese movie.
The ending is conventional and a little hard to swallow; we don't even feel like Scorsese really believes it.
This review of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) was written by Adam W on 27 Feb 2009.
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore has generally received positive reviews.
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