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ALICE

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What You Need To Know:

Married to a successful husband, Alice has back pains. She visits a herbalist, who prescribes magic potions. Alice loves her husband, yet has unfulfilled dreams. The potions create supernatural events. The first gives her the courage to pick up a saxophone player. The second allows her to observe without being observed. A third drums up the ghost of an old boyfriend who guides her into infidelity. The next concoction summons a Muse to aid her writing career. A final potion will cause any man to fall madly in love with her. Alice must decide between the musician and her husband, but has a hard time since she has based every decision on her feelings, which are confused.

The problems here are self-evident: decisions are based on feelings, and Alice finds herself by doing her own thing. In fact, these adolescent responses would not solve Alice's ennui; however, Mr. Allen isn't concerned with salvation. Even the jokes are in poor taste, delivered slowly without snap. The best thing going for ALICE is the musical score. ALICE will appeal to those who don't mind the sin of gossip, the encouraging of infidelity, or the ridicule of Catholicism. Moviegoers deserve better than this

Content:

Adultery, 21 profanities (19 of them exclamatory (Oh, my G_d!)) and 2 obscenities, occultic occurrences, ridicule of Catholicism, substance abuse, gossip, and sexual innuendo

More Detail:

According to writer/director Woody Allen, “ALICE is a contemporary comedy about a wife who reexamines her life and goes through a remarkable series of experiences at a critical point in her life.”

Married to a top-wage earner husband and living in a New York City penthouse suite, Alice’s ordeal begins with lower back pains. She visits a Chinatown herbalist, who prescribes a series of magic potions for a problem he believes is in her mind and heart, not back. Alice, it turns out, loves her husband, yet is suffering physically because of unfulfilled dreams.

The herbal potions create supernatural occurrences for Alice, which open her eyes to the falseness of her marriage. The first gives her the courage to pick up an attractive saxophone player and have a humorous conversation with him. The second allows her to become invisible, so she can observe without being observed, while a third drums up the ghost of an old boyfriend who guides her into infidelity.

The next concoction summons a Muse1 to aid her fledgling writing career. A final potion will cause any man to fall madly in love with her.

Thus, Alice must decide between the musician and her husband, but has a hard time making that choice since she has based every decision entirely on her feelings, which are totally confused. Alice finds a way out of her dilemma that’s purely Woody Allen.

Clearly, there are some problems with this examination of a life by Mr. Allen. For one, feelings are stressed as most important in the decision-making process when, in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Furthermore, the something that Alice has vaguely sensed is not quite right in her life is found in leaving her husband and shifting from a childlike giving to an adulthood devoted to self-satisfaction.

Alice supposedly finds happiness at film’s end by doing her own thing. Again, nothing could be further from the truth, but Mr. Allen isn’t really concerned with virtuous living. He even takes quite a few swipes at Catholics and Catholicism.

Some may find Mr. Allen’s wit as sharp as ever, but others that the jokes are in poor taste, delivered slowly and lack snap. As for the element of fantasy in the film (occult would be more accurate), it is hard at times to determine what is real and not real, as memories and flashbacks intercut with fantasies and illusions. Perhaps the best thing going for ALICE is the musical score, featuring Dizzy Gillespie and Arty Shaw.

ALICE will probably appeal to Woody’s usual holiday gathering, those who don’t mind watching the sin of gossip, the encouraging of infidelity, or a Catholic upbringing ridiculed. Surely, moviegoers deserve better than this.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.