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DVD Description
Arthur Penn's chronicle of hippie life during the late 1960s garnered the acclaimed director his second Oscar nomination.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I first watched this movie in my mid teens, around about 1982/83, when I was a young "hippy"! I'd gotten into Arlo Guthrie through watching the Woodstock movie and then buying the soundtrack LP, followed by Arlo's LP "Alice's Restaurant". This was a movie that always stayed with me and, in a way, kind of influenced the the way of life I wanted to live; a young guy, with likewise friends, in a VW campervan, travelling about and just dropping in at his friends places and staying there for a period of time.
The film was made in 1969, based around Arlo's ballad, "Alice's Restaurant". It is has one main comical theme running through it, which is the litter bugging incident on Thanks Giving and how it affected Arlo's call up with the draft to join the army to fight in Vietnam. This movie is basically that, but on watching it now, it goes alot deeper than that. There's Arlo's dad's (Woody) suffering with Huntington's Disease, which he explains runs in the family, there's the horror of the Vietnam war with his friends loss of a limb, which affects his other friends and brings a stark realisation about the war, the draft, the way the soldiers were viewed upon and the afrect it had on both those serving in the war and those who didn't want to. The film also brings in the sadness of drug addiction and the affects that has on those around you aswell as the user. Don't get me wrong though, it's not a depressing film and has alot of lighter sides to it and some good music to boot (Pete Seeger makes an appearance). It just gives a great view of life at those times from both sides, plus how people reacted towards long haired folk, the war, drugs, etc., but, at the end of the day, it was filmed and set in the late 1960's so it may seem dated and of no point to some, but if you are after a movie to relive and understand that period, then this is the movie to watch. I enjoyed watching it again after all those years. It still made me smile and laugh in parts. At he end of the movie it kinds of paints a picture that the "hippy dream" was just that, a dream.
The film was made in 1969, based around Arlo's ballad, "Alice's Restaurant". It is has one main comical theme running through it, which is the litter bugging incident on Thanks Giving and how it affected Arlo's call up with the draft to join the army to fight in Vietnam. This movie is basically that, but on watching it now, it goes alot deeper than that. There's Arlo's dad's (Woody) suffering with Huntington's Disease, which he explains runs in the family, there's the horror of the Vietnam war with his friends loss of a limb, which affects his other friends and brings a stark realisation about the war, the draft, the way the soldiers were viewed upon and the afrect it had on both those serving in the war and those who didn't want to. The film also brings in the sadness of drug addiction and the affects that has on those around you aswell as the user. Don't get me wrong though, it's not a depressing film and has alot of lighter sides to it and some good music to boot (Pete Seeger makes an appearance). It just gives a great view of life at those times from both sides, plus how people reacted towards long haired folk, the war, drugs, etc., but, at the end of the day, it was filmed and set in the late 1960's so it may seem dated and of no point to some, but if you are after a movie to relive and understand that period, then this is the movie to watch. I enjoyed watching it again after all those years. It still made me smile and laugh in parts. At he end of the movie it kinds of paints a picture that the "hippy dream" was just that, a dream.
35 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Arlo Guthrie is not honestly an actor, nor is he as talented a musician as his father Woody Guthrie, but he, and the rest of the cast put together a 'folksy' low-budget movie with lots to see and in which the Hippie lifestyle is well portrayed. It was the world that people like Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger (who plays a cameo role) came from. They were icons of the 60's protest movment that launched the powerful opposition to the Vietnam War.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I re-visited this film the other night after not having seen it for some years. I remember when it first came out that I had mixed feelings about it and I still do. It's an interesting film but not really what I would call completely enjoyable. As portrayed in the film, Alice's Restaurant was not always a fun place to be.
Part of the problem seem to be director Arthur Penn's insistence on making the film "relevant" and "meaningful" in the heavy-handed manner that too many Sixties films did. The movie is most successful when following the mood and theme of the song on which it is based; much less so when trying to pad out the plot. The Woody hospital scenes are a nice poignant touch, but the bike races are boring and the character of Shelly is just plain annoying. The acting throughout is inconsistent. Arlo Guthrie is likeable but lightweight and flashes his toothy grin once too often. Pat Quinn as Alice comes off best. It was nice to include the real Officer Obie but many of the rest of the cast seem to be Hollywood versions of very clean hippies wearing the latest hip fashions straight off the costume rack.
The biggest problem in the film for me in the character of Ray who I find rather sinister. His background is never really explained and he comes across as a kind of cult leader, always going on about "our kids." The source of his income is a mystery - he buys the church and sets up the restaurant but has to borrow $80 from Arlo. He's not very nice to Alice but she seems drawn to him. The hippies follow him without question, apparently happy to trade one establishment for another. The film seems unnecessarily dark whenever Ray is on the scene.
I suppose it's interesting to see this film every once in a while, if only because it provides a kind of snapshot of the times. Perhaps not a totally accurate snapshot, but then memories have a way of improving on reality. For me, I think Alice's Restaurant would have been better with more comedy and less forced dramatics. But, after reading some of the other opinions on here, that is obviously a minority view and I expect the usual "unhelpful" votes for stating it. Peace, man!
Part of the problem seem to be director Arthur Penn's insistence on making the film "relevant" and "meaningful" in the heavy-handed manner that too many Sixties films did. The movie is most successful when following the mood and theme of the song on which it is based; much less so when trying to pad out the plot. The Woody hospital scenes are a nice poignant touch, but the bike races are boring and the character of Shelly is just plain annoying. The acting throughout is inconsistent. Arlo Guthrie is likeable but lightweight and flashes his toothy grin once too often. Pat Quinn as Alice comes off best. It was nice to include the real Officer Obie but many of the rest of the cast seem to be Hollywood versions of very clean hippies wearing the latest hip fashions straight off the costume rack.
The biggest problem in the film for me in the character of Ray who I find rather sinister. His background is never really explained and he comes across as a kind of cult leader, always going on about "our kids." The source of his income is a mystery - he buys the church and sets up the restaurant but has to borrow $80 from Arlo. He's not very nice to Alice but she seems drawn to him. The hippies follow him without question, apparently happy to trade one establishment for another. The film seems unnecessarily dark whenever Ray is on the scene.
I suppose it's interesting to see this film every once in a while, if only because it provides a kind of snapshot of the times. Perhaps not a totally accurate snapshot, but then memories have a way of improving on reality. For me, I think Alice's Restaurant would have been better with more comedy and less forced dramatics. But, after reading some of the other opinions on here, that is obviously a minority view and I expect the usual "unhelpful" votes for stating it. Peace, man!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
...........excepting Alice!
Pure nostalgia.
A film that has stayed with me all of my life.
Chill out and feel the vibe, man........
By the way, don't buy anything from Simply Electronics! Read more
A film that has stayed with me all of my life.
Chill out and feel the vibe, man........
By the way, don't buy anything from Simply Electronics! Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2010 by Andrew Killin
Alice's Restaurant - A Return to my Youth . .
Alice's Restaurant - the song has been in my head for nearly 40 years and I thought I remembered the whole film although I hadn't seen it for at least 35 years. Read more
Published on 14 Oct 2009 by Ben Coombes
An essential past vision of the future
1969 was a turning point in American history. And this film is still living on the hippy dream, on the flower kids and their illusion that life is nothing but music and fun. Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2008 by Jacques COULARDEAU
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