esrosedotblog

ALICE'S RESTAURANT(1969)

Movie of the day; NYTBest1000; Arthur Penn directed; docu-drama; realistic; up and down side of the 'summer of love'; jump-cut and episodic. It is unique. A period piece that still holds up.

It is not, incidentally, a comedy, at all; nor is it a caricature of the times. I found that a lot of the characters were similar to people I knew ; maybe even me. A lot of the situations seemed familiar. The final shot of Alice alone is 'heavy'; it actually is, very. And so on. I liked it a lot. Give it a 3 out of Netflix 5.

This is, first and foremost, a coming of age film. Arlo moves from happy go lucky kid to happy go lucky young adult, seeking his own world out of the communal womb. It is nicely done. And it would seem that, although he has not had a spectacular career, he has had a happy and healthy one. It is not often that we get a chance to see how the movie 'came out', huh? He looks OK to me.

The central character other than Arlo is James Broderick (father of Matthew) who is quite charismatic and probably a little nuts. He was a great actor; was in a lot of television. He died early; 1982, when Matthew was 20. He does not Google a picture; only Matthew shows up. Time and tide.

This is also M. Emmett Walsh's second film. He does a great turn as a double-talking military guy at the draft induction center. There is a photo for him on IMDb. Clickon. He has 141 credits listed; one of those faces that you see over and over; pivotal characters; unforgettable moments; and actor's actor. He is still working.