Plot intro
Alice Hyatt (Ellen Burstyn) is left widowed when her emotionally abusive husband is killed suddenly in a traffic accident.
Struggling financially, she leaves her home of New Mexico with her young son, Tommy (Alfred Lutter) with the aim of becoming a singer again in California. Unfortunately her lack of finances means that she finds herself stuck in Phoenix, Arizona, as a waitress in a cafe. But as she builds a friendship with her smart-mouthed colleague Flo (Diane Ladd) and falls in love with good-looking local, David (Kris Kristofferson), Alice starts to wonder where her new life should be…
I would argue that this is a lesser-known Oscar winning film by today’s standards and that Ellen Burstyn herself is a name that doesn’t crop up very frequently (certainly not compared to some of her Best Actress contemporaries such as Jane Fonda and Liza Minnelli). Many of you may know her as Claire Underwood’s mother in House of Cards (a series that fell out of favour when its lead turned out to be just as sinister and underhanded as the character he portrayed), and as the older version of Jessica Chastain’s character in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. But Burstyn’s most famous role is arguably as Linda Blair’s terrified mother in The Exorcist.
But just because you’re not familiar with her, don’t underestimate the Burstyn. She holds the Triple Crown of Acting, having won an Oscar, two Emmys and a Tony. Her Oscar win was her third of six nominations (although five of them were between 1972 and 1981). She also has a BAFTA and a Golden Globe (with multiple nominations for the latter) as well as a multitude of critics’ choice-style wins and nominations. Burstyn has had a prestigious and consistent career, even if her name tends to elicit comments such as “Oh I’ve heard of her, what’s she in?”
Alice fits right in with the '70s style of gritty, realistic dramas but it is notable as the second Best Actress win in a row which has a comedic edge to it, making it more palatable. Alice herself is treated abominably by most men. Her husband, who dies early on, is immensely confrontational, tyrannical, emotionally distant and abusive. A pretty typical marriage for many a working-class American housewife at the time. But when free from him, Alice displays tenacity, fear and anger along with a very human streak of clumsiness and absent-mindedness that makes her relatable and likeable. Her frustrations with her son are understandable- he’s quite irritating (even though she does leave him alone in motels for whole days).
The first half of the film, however, drags, mostly because it is carried by Alice and her son and neither are characters that warrant a whole two hours of screen time. There’s an especially dark sequence in which Alice has a fling with a local man (Harvey Keitel), who turns out to be married and his cuckold wife comes to Alice’s motel room to confront her. The scene shared between them is unexpectedly tender and the writers avoid depicting either of them as unrealistically jealous shrews. But when the husband turns up, his true physically-abusive colours are on full display. He evidently believes that a man may do as he wishes (i.e. cheat on his wife, hit his wife, rape his wife) and he frustratingly never gets a real comeuppance. This is, certainly, a fair representation of '70s feminism, fighting to free women from the tyranny of marriage and patriarchy. But Doug and I resignedly braced ourselves for another hour of woman-bashing misery.
Thankfully, the second hour lifts off, particularly after Alice gets a job in a cafe. This is all thanks to Diane Ladd (mother of Laura Dern who is in the background eating ice cream during the film) who plays quick-witted, obnoxious waitress, Flo. She’s a walking stereotype; a loud-mouthed, under-educated, brassy, good-hearted tart whom Alice snobbishly detests at first but grows to like. She’s a joy to watch and I was happy to see she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Paired with Valerie Curtin as Vera, a shy, weepy waitress, the two make outstanding side characters in a sitcom-like series of scenes that conclude the movie. In fact, they’re so much fun that most of the first half gets forgotten and the pedestrian and predictable love story between Alice and David (and David’s rocky father-son bonding with Tommy) becomes overshadowed.
Alice is a simple, sweet little film with dark undertones and welcome lashings of comic relief, and Burstyn is a capable actress. But sitting in between powerhouse actress-movie couplings such as Liza Minnelli in Cabaret and Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, it’s a tiny drop in an ocean full of classic movies and performances.
The hilarious chaos that ensues between Alice, Flo and Vera as waitresses bonding, laughing and crying on their shifts (plus the bossy, confrontational but warm-hearted chef) is a joy to watch and should have been the focus of the film.
The first half is dreary and not giving Harvey Keitel’s horrid villain a full comeuppance might be realistic but it’s unsatisfying and doesn’t sit right to 21st-century eyes.
Guess who mostly agrees with Paul…! This is a lovely little film that has faded somewhat into the sands of time. It’s got the dark themes that we have come to recognise in ‘70s cinema and in the first half of the film I was worried that we were in for a thoroughly depressing time. We saw domestic abuse, violence and a frightening turn by Harvey Keitel who lashes out at his wife with absolute savagery.
I think this is all meant to be part of Alice’s ‘adventure’ - leaving her staid life behind and seeking her dream of being a pianist. But in a modern light, it feels a bit unnecessary and - like many of this decade’s films - overlong. I was about to give up.
However, the second half of the film bursts into life, largely thanks to Diane Ladd’s Flo. It’s a sensational performance, quick-talking and sassy, full of life and feeling and offers up kindness to Ellen Burstyn’s Alice that humanises and makes us warm to the central character that much more. The scenes in the cafe are full of joy and life – and I think it’s of little surprise that this was the element lifted to be used in the ensuing sitcom.
This film really is a sitcom trying to be a drama and had they got to the cafe half an hour earlier, I think it would be a much greater success (although probably not Oscar-winning). Ellen Burstyn is a name I recognise but I don’t know that she does anything ground-breaking here. I feel like it might be more that she delivers a solid performance in a role that seized the voters’ imagination. In a way the award is more for the writers’ decision to portray domestic abuse and a woman thriving after escaping the situation.
I also wasn’t a major fan of the odd storyline around romantic lead David’s attempt to bond with Alice’s son – and then smacking him for misbehaving. It felt like they were trying to shove too many things into a film that was itching to be a knockabout comedy set in a diner. We could have had a film version of the diner scene in The Emperor’s New Groove, and instead we only got a bit of it. Ah well.
The scene when Alice and Flo are having a heart-to-heart in the toilets, cut with shots of Vera struggling with the chaos in the cafe is a superb example of classic comedy. It was acted and edited brilliantly, resulting in me laughing so hard I nearly fell off the sofa.
This is a comedy! Cut the first hour and expand the second, and this would have been a knock out winner.
Mark
5/10
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