Starring the incomparable Ellen Burstyn, giving an Oscar-winning performance (one of the finest of the 1970s),this comedy-drama is gritty and tough, but never off-putting. After her husband dies, 35-year-old Alice Hyatt from New Mexico and her smart-mouthed 11-year-old son (Alfred Lutter) take to the road, chasing her girlhood dream of finding songbird success in Monterey, CA. They get stuck in Phoenix, where she meets up with a frightening working-stiff in a cowboy hat (Harvey Keitel). Later, waitressing at Mel & Ruby's Cafe in Tucson, she meets a gentle farmer (Kris Kristofferson) who's had his share of heartbreak. Perceptive, amusing, knockabout film regarding ordinary people trying to make it, episodes in their lives that enrich or derail them. Alice and her son have a wonderfully natural give-and-take, and the oddballs they meet on their odyssey (like Jodie Foster's shoplifting tomboy or the sweet, overweight cowboy who gives Alice a singing job) are deliciously silly, yet incredibly real. Burstyn is a joy cutting up with her neighbor in the backyard, having a Coke fight with her kid in a seedy motel, trading quips with Diane Ladd's salty Flo in the diner. Some critics complained that the happy ending felt tacked on, but you come to respect Alice and her choices, and most of the film's little faults are camouflaged by director Martin Scorsese's bittersweet framing and Robert Getchell's vivid screenplay. Far superior to the TV sitcom, "Alice", which quickly followed.

I had never seen Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More, but I had seen the Alice TV series which was taken from this film. If you think you're going to see a lot of situation comedy here, disabuse yourself of that notion. This original film is as serious as a crutch about a recently widowed woman Ellen Burstyn trying to both raise her adolescent son and find her own fulfillment.

Part of Burstyn's identification is that she was named after her mother's favorite film star Alice Faye and has aspirations as a singer. But when we meet her she's settled down in her marriage to probably not the greatest catch in the world in Billy Green Bush and their son Alfred Lutter,III. They live pretty much paycheck to paycheck.

But when Bush is killed in an automobile accident, Burstyn wants to move from Socorro, New Mexico back to Monterey, California where she grew up and where she felt truly happy. So they take to the road and the story really starts from there.

Ellen Burstyn got her career role and a Best Actress Oscar for this film. It's one multi-layered performance, especially in her scenes with Lutter whose hormones are starting to kick in and he's a handful. She gets into a bad relationship while lingering in Phoenix with a married man whom she didn't know was married. Her scenes with Lane Bradbury as the wife and the psychotic Harvey Keitel when she learns what a violent psychotic he is are devoid of dialog for the most part on Burstyn's part. But her expressions contain so much meaning. Keitel should be commended for his performance here also.

In fact after both Bush and Keitel, Burstyn's understandably gun shy when she meets rancher Kris Kristofferson. Is Kristofferson the real deal or is Burstyn just afraid? And how will young Mr. Lutter factor in? For that you need and should watch Alice Doesn't Live Her Any More.

The film also got Oscar nominations for Robert Getchell's original story and screenplay and for Diane Ladd as her fellow server at Mel's Diner in Tucson. Ladd's is not the comic performance from the Alice TV series that Polly Holiday was. But she's been around the block a few times and has some sage advice for all who listen. Vic Tayback is the only member of the film cast to repeat his role in the TV series. His Melvin Sharples is subdued here, he really gets to shine on the small screen.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More was directed by Martin Scorsese and is a timeless film. Absolutely could be remade today and try to figure out who could play these parts with today's players.

Alice Hyatt (Ellen Burstyn) is a long-suffering housewife in New Mexico. However, she is still devastated when her emotionally abusive husband is killed. She decides to sell off everything, pack up the rest and drive to California with her son Tommy. She tries to get singing gigs along the way which she abandoned when she was younger. She sleeps with Ben (Harvey Keitel) but he turns out to be abusive and married. In Tucson, she takes a waitress job in a diner owned by short-order cook Mel (Vic Tayback). Flo (Diane Ladd) and Vera (Valerie Curtin) are the other waitresses. Alice falls for diner customer David (Kris Kristofferson). Tomboy Audrey (Jodie Foster) gets Tommy into trouble.

Ellen Burstyn is an amazing actress. She's asked to play a complicated character that grows and changes. She's a meek housewife at the start. She struggles with everything especially her son. She's a tough cookie. The only thing truly missing from her is a good singing voice. This is from Martin Scorsese. Without Harvey Keitel and Jodie Foster, it wouldn't occur to me that he's the director. He's coming off of 'Mean Streets'. This is not about gangsters. It's about a single mom. He does get the lower class grittiness and he leaves the single mom characterization to Burstyn. Diane Ladd is also terrific as the loud-mouth Flo. The plot does meander like Alice's journey. The shooting is documentary style. It's not surprising that the diner turns into a TV show. It's filled with possibilities. It may have been more compelling to get there sooner.