*SPOILER ALERT*
This small and oft-overlooked offering from Martin Scorsese (his 4th feature) ranks among his best and most interesting for a number of reasons it's one of the only Scorsese films with a woman as the protagonist, and in typical Scorsese fashion she's tough, if a bit conflicted (like most of his male protagonists) and real, in other words. ALICE...also provides a another great glimpse of his very original style as it was developing the continuum between MEAN STREETS, this film, and TAXI DRIVER in look, mood and performance is perfect, as the post new-wave grit and furious energy of MEAN STREETS is a bit more focused here.
Overall, ALICE... is a more subdued character study which like life - swings from gripping to scary to funny to touching in the blink of an eye. Also notable as one of Scorsese's handful of non-New York stories (like LAST TEMPTATION, CASINO and KUNDUN), ALICE... follows Alice Hyatt (Ellen Burstyn, fresh out of THE EXORCIST and at her peak) a California native, living in New Mexico with her truck driver husband. Suddenly widowed, Alice decides that she and Joey are going to take off, on what little cash they have left, for California, so she can pursue her long-dormant dream of becoming a singer. They make it as far as Arizona before Alice runs out of cash and has to stop to find work. After initially landing in Phoenix Alice ends up living in a rent-by-the-week motel in Tuscon, working at Mel's, a trashy diner run by its' amusingly belligerent namesake Mel (Vic Tayback), and staffed by the wild-but-wise Flo (Diane Ladd, in another amazing performance) and psychologically unstable Vera (Valerie Curtin). Before long Alice begins to put down roots, and she takes up with David (Kris Kristofferson), a local rancher.
The lone potential flaw is the ending, which feels like a compromise - if after discovering her confidence and independence, Alice feels like she oughta ride off into the sunset of Monterrey, she also wants companionship, and has allowed this desire to lead her into questionable choices in men (witness one of Harvey Keitel's most unforgettable performances) because of it. So, if a somewhat conflicted ideology lingers through a film where tough mindedness and harsh reality (interrupted by the occasional bit of lifelike, randomlike humor) gives way to romance, then perhaps it simply is indicative of how cerebral ideologies sometimes will or should crumble in the face of human emotions and desires.
In any case this thoughtful tension at the heart of this beautifully acted, beautifully filmed tour-de-force gives ALICE... a rich, earthy energy that places it among the most thoughtful and multifaceted films (like TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL and also the underrated KUNDUN) that Scorsese has ever made.
This small and oft-overlooked offering from Martin Scorsese (his 4th feature) ranks among his best and most interesting for a number of reasons it's one of the only Scorsese films with a woman as the protagonist, and in typical Scorsese fashion she's tough, if a bit conflicted (like most of his male protagonists) and real, in other words. ALICE...also provides a another great glimpse of his very original style as it was developing the continuum between MEAN STREETS, this film, and TAXI DRIVER in look, mood and performance is perfect, as the post new-wave grit and furious energy of MEAN STREETS is a bit more focused here.
Overall, ALICE... is a more subdued character study which like life - swings from gripping to scary to funny to touching in the blink of an eye. Also notable as one of Scorsese's handful of non-New York stories (like LAST TEMPTATION, CASINO and KUNDUN), ALICE... follows Alice Hyatt (Ellen Burstyn, fresh out of THE EXORCIST and at her peak) a California native, living in New Mexico with her truck driver husband. Suddenly widowed, Alice decides that she and Joey are going to take off, on what little cash they have left, for California, so she can pursue her long-dormant dream of becoming a singer. They make it as far as Arizona before Alice runs out of cash and has to stop to find work. After initially landing in Phoenix Alice ends up living in a rent-by-the-week motel in Tuscon, working at Mel's, a trashy diner run by its' amusingly belligerent namesake Mel (Vic Tayback), and staffed by the wild-but-wise Flo (Diane Ladd, in another amazing performance) and psychologically unstable Vera (Valerie Curtin). Before long Alice begins to put down roots, and she takes up with David (Kris Kristofferson), a local rancher.
The lone potential flaw is the ending, which feels like a compromise - if after discovering her confidence and independence, Alice feels like she oughta ride off into the sunset of Monterrey, she also wants companionship, and has allowed this desire to lead her into questionable choices in men (witness one of Harvey Keitel's most unforgettable performances) because of it. So, if a somewhat conflicted ideology lingers through a film where tough mindedness and harsh reality (interrupted by the occasional bit of lifelike, randomlike humor) gives way to romance, then perhaps it simply is indicative of how cerebral ideologies sometimes will or should crumble in the face of human emotions and desires.
In any case this thoughtful tension at the heart of this beautifully acted, beautifully filmed tour-de-force gives ALICE... a rich, earthy energy that places it among the most thoughtful and multifaceted films (like TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL and also the underrated KUNDUN) that Scorsese has ever made.