Alice's Restaurant

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Cast & Crew

Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie

Patricia Quinn
Alice Brock

James Broderick
Ray Brock

Michael McClanathan
Shelly

Geoff Outlaw
Roger Crowther

Tina Chen
Mari-chan

Kathleen Dabney
Karin

Monroe Arnold
Blueglass

Arthur Penn
Director

Arlo Guthrie
Writer

Venable Herndon
Writer (Screenplay)

Arthur Penn
Writer (Screenplay)

Hillard Elkins
Producer

Harold Leventhal
Associate Producer

Joseph Manduke
Producer

Arlo Guthrie
Original Music

Garry Sherman
Original Music

Michael Nebbia
Cinematographer

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Critic Reviews for Alice's Restaurant

Audience Reviews for Alice's Restaurant

• Sep 05, 2010

  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.
  Aj V Super Reviewer
• Aug 08, 2010

  Very much of its decade, this sixties' iconoclastic film features the best of the folk era and also re-imagines a true story about the complications of morality in a Vietnam tinged landscape. The movie's premise is based on a true story from the life of lead character and guitarist Arlo Guthrie, who was arrested in 1964 for dumping in a ravine on Thanksgiving when the local dump was closed. His crime made him ineligible for service in Vietnam, which Guthrie found preposterous because the army's atrocities were much worse than his discretion. He wrote an 18-minute long song about the incident which became popular and led to this film being made. That gimmick sustains this in many people's minds as one of the more iconic films of the sixties because it speaks about the revolutionary spirit of that time, the atrocities of a war that would rage for another four years, and the free love attitudes of many young people at this time. Though many elements of the story were true, a large bit was fictionalized in order to stretch it to a longer runtime. Parts of this are entertaining, fluid, and show a lot about what made the sixties so important. Other times it becomes painfully clear that no one can act in this film, especially Arlo Guthrie. Each of these characters is painfully bland and the performances are very wooden. This film also can't decide whether it is a comedy or a dramatic biopic with leanings towards political revolution. This film is simply fueled by the paranoia and hatred from the war, and that last refrain in the song, and in this film, was very powerful and thought provoking. The problem is that the film is bogged down in extra bits that try to make it funny and strange, trying to build off the views of communes, flower power, and other sixties' staples when it accomplishes so much without it.
  Spencer S Super Reviewer
• Apr 19, 2009

  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.
  cody f Super Reviewer
• Jan 18, 2009

  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.
  Randy T Super Reviewer

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