Alice's Restaurant (1969)

67% of critics liked it
(15 reviews)
61% of users liked it
(3,485 ratings)

Intrigued by the counterculture tale of Arlo Guthrie's epic 1968 talking-blues record The Alice's Restaurant Massacree, director Arthur Penn, co-scripting with playwright Venable Herndon, adapted the song into the 1969 feature Alice's Restaurant. Hippie outsider Arlo (Guthrie, playing himself)… More Intrigued by the counterculture tale of Arlo Guthrie's epic 1968 talking-blues record The Alice's Restaurant Massacree, director Arthur Penn, co-scripting with playwright Venable Herndon, adapted the song into the 1969 feature Alice's Restaurant. Hippie outsider Arlo (Guthrie, playing himself) encounters suspicion from the straight world; visits his dying father, renowned leftist activist/singer Woody Guthrie (Joseph Boley), in the hospital along with friend Pete Seeger; and hangs out in the title converted church/commune created by his friends Alice (Pat Quinn) and her husband Ray (James Broderick). After Alice's "Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat," Arlo is arrested for littering by rule-following Officer "Obie" Obanhein (William Obanhein, playing himself). That littering arrest helps Arlo avoid the Vietnam draft, but the commune is threatened after more personal, old-fashioned conflicts over sex and partnerships permeate Alice and Ray's alternative world. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 51 min.
Directed By: Arthur Penn
Written By: Arlo Guthrie, Venable Herndon
Genres: Classics, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy

In Theaters: Aug 20, 1969 Wide
On DVD: Jan 23, 2001
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

, TIME Magazine
[Penn] has transformed a charming shaggy-dog story into a melancholy epitaph for an entire era.
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice
Penn's genius overtakes the dropout romance, like a final post-bacchanal hangover that suggests liberation as an El Dorado dream.
, Variety
There are occasional flashes of wry humor and some rib-tickling sequences. But they are all too few.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Good work in a minor key.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It's worth checking out for the marvelous look back at how the counterculture dropouts related to each other and to the straight older generation in the late 1960s.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
To his credit, Penn refused to romanticize his subjects, and the film stands as a fairly accurate chronicle of the times.
, Film4
Penn's strong sympathy with the outsider and anti-Establishment stance comes across in a film that appealed to those who could identify with this communal hippie haven, but now seems too naive and distant.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Brilliantly visualised.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Inspired by Guthrie's ballad, Arthur Penn's film is a summation of the anti-establishment, anti-Vietnam War generation, clinging to the ideal of a collectivist life in a Stockbridge commune.
Emily Blunt, Blunt Review
This is one of those time capsule films - for that it is important
Alex Sandell, Juicy Cerebellum
Not nearly as good as everyone keeps telling you that it is.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
...this is Arlo's story and he stars in it and all, but he's the least impressive part of it.
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews
The movie hasn't improved any over the years, but fortunately this version has Arlo Guthrie supplying commentary, making the DVD worth some historical value for '60s junkies.
Dan Jardine, Apollo Guide
In the end, the slap-dash narrative loses focus and credulity, particularly when the tale turns to the disintegrating relationship of Alice and Ray, and to an ill-developed subplot involving the ex-con drug addict Shelly.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
...the film itself remains a pleasant, oddball, and highly diverting glimpse into one of the country's most confusing times.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

Yes it's an off beat off key kind of movie, but that's not always good. I thought this movie was pretty boring for the most part. Maybe that's because I'm not familiar with Guthrie's work outside of the film, but I think the movie could have been more… More
Yes it's an off beat off key kind of movie, but that's not always good. I thought this movie was pretty boring for the most part. Maybe that's because I'm not familiar with Guthrie's work outside of the film, but I think the movie could have been more cohesive and entertaining. Overall, it's okay, though.
Randy T

One of those 'generational anthems' that's more endearing because it's a tad off key. Arlo Guthrie's semi-autobiographical homage to his father and his friends.
Adam M

Arlo does well, playing an observer, almost pure of heart; he deals with his own mortality in his father's death from Huntington's; a hippie idyll wise about the delicate equilibrium that keeps their way of life together
Lanning :

Compare a film like Hair with this one, a tribute to and expansion on Arlo Guthrie's sometime anthem for America in the 1960s. For those who refer to Guthrie being portrayed as a "draft dodger," I think a second look might prove worthwhile. In fact,… More
Compare a film like Hair with this one, a tribute to and expansion on Arlo Guthrie's sometime anthem for America in the 1960s. For those who refer to Guthrie being portrayed as a "draft dodger," I think a second look might prove worthwhile. In fact, the heart of irony in this story -- and there is irony around every corner -- is that Guthrie, through a series of bizarre and somewhat amusing happenings, finds himself in a position where the draft actually dodges him. Because he is a litterbug who is caught, because he has appeared in court due to his littering, and because he is convicted of littering, Arlo is deemed unfit for military service. To say that this film captures and celebrates the spirit of the 60s is to do it a gross injustice in a way. Irony rears its head throughout this movie, pointing to the devastation wrought by drugs upon the addicted and how "free" love actually can damage relationships. All in all, this is hardly a free wheeling laugh- or love-fest, and neither is it a wholeheartedly approving celebration of those freedoms of individuality, self-expression, and guiltless indulgence "enjoyed" by the "hippie" generation. This film, coming out in 1969, is a very serious, although non-judgmental, end-of-an-era look backwards at the flower powered 60s. Perhaps the most heavily participatory and indulgent characters, Alice and Ray, played beautifully by Pat Quinn and James Broderick (Matthew's dad), are also the most victimized. While the freedom of their lifestyle does not kill them, as it does Shelly, the hardcore drug-addicted motorcyclist, it certainly does nothing to bring them closer together in their marriage. There is a yearning in both to move their marriage to a higher plane, but from the beginning to the end, it is, ironically, their inability to make their love transcend the circumstances of their lives and lifestyles that gives the whole movie its underlying tragic tone. This is well worth the watch. If only they could all, as the song says, get anything they wanted -- except Alice. This is a major stumbling block for husband Ray, who is ironically, in the end, one of those who cannot and does not really ever "get" her.
cody f

This movie drags at the beginning and the end, but it is very entertaing in the middle. It's a very unorthodox film based on Arlo Guthrie's 18 minute song of the same name. Arlo Guthrie does a good job, but at times his lack of acting skills does affect the film. It's… More
This movie drags at the beginning and the end, but it is very entertaing in the middle. It's a very unorthodox film based on Arlo Guthrie's 18 minute song of the same name. Arlo Guthrie does a good job, but at times his lack of acting skills does affect the film. It's about a bunch of hippies and the movie is defiantly a product of it's time. It has some great characters and the film ends with a amazing tracking shot that is very powerful. A interesting film that's a little too long.

Cast

            Arlo Guthrie as Arlo

            Pat Quinn as Alice

            James Broderick as Ray

            Michael McClanathan as Shelly

            Geoff Outlaw as Roger

            Tina Chen as Mari-Chan

            Kathleen Dabney as Karin

            Pol. Chief William Obanhein as Officer obie

            Seth Allan as Evangelist

            Monroe Arnold as Bluegrass

            Joseph Boley as Woody

            Pete  Seeger as Himself

            Sylvia Davis as Marjorie

            Simm Landres as Jacob

            Louis Beachner as Dean

            Macintyre Dixon as lst Deconsecration Minister

            Rev. Dr. Pierce Middleton as 2nd Deconsecration Minister

            Donald Marye as Funeral Director

            Shelley Plimpton as Reenie

            M. Emmet Walsh as Group W Sergeant

            Lee Hays as Himself

            Eleanor D. Wilson as Landlady

            Simon Deckard as Medic

            Thomas DeWolfe as Waiter

            Judge James Hannon as Himself

            Graham Jarvis as Music Teacher

            John Quill as 2nd Cop

            Frank Simpson as Sergeant

            Vinnette Carrol as Draft Clerk

            Ron Weyand as 1st Cop

            Patricia Quinn
            
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