1969·Drama·1h 51m
7.1
★
After getting kicked out of college, Arlo decides to visit his friend Alice for Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner is over, Arlo volunteers to take the trash to the dump but finds it closed for the holiday, so he dumps the trash in the bottom of a ravine. This act of littering gets him arrested and sends him on a bizarre journey.
Directed by Arthur Penn
hippie
free love
junkie
commune
restaurant
military service
wedding
church
drugs
hitchhiking
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Cast
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie
Patricia Quinn
Alice Brock
James Broderick
Ray Brock
Tina Chen
Mari-chan
Geoff Outlaw
Roger Crowther
Michael McClanathan
Shelly
Pete Seeger
Himself
Kathleen Dabney
Karin
Seth Allen
Evangelist
MacIntyre Dixon
1st Deconsecration Minister
M. Emmet Walsh
Group W Sergeant
Ron Weyand
Cop #1
Crew
Arthur Penn
Director
Arthur Penn
Screenplay
Arlo Guthrie
Original Music Composer
Dede Allen
Editor
Richard Marks
Editor
Joseph Manduke
Producer
Arlo Guthrie
Author
Victor J. Kemper
Camera Operator
Popular Reviews
14 reviews
danny
5.1★ · 11/22/23
hard to know what to feel about this. alice's restaurant is the best thanksgiving song, and i say [arlo guthrie voice] "KILL! KILL!! I WANNA SEE BLOOD AND GUTS AND GORE AND VEINS IN MY TEETH! I MEAN, KILL! KILL!!!" way too often. loses the initial charm of the song by diving way too deeply into characters that don't necessarily add to the story, but captures so perfectly the tail end of hippie- and counterculture as it was happening. but how well can you do with a 2-hour film based on a 20 minute song. enjoyed the pee bit
hard to know what to feel about this. alice's restaurant is the best thanksgiving song, and i say [arlo guthrie voice] "KILL! KILL!! I WANNA SEE BLOOD AND GUTS AND GORE AND VEINS IN MY TEETH! I MEAN, KILL! KILL!!!" way too often. loses the initial charm of the song by diving way too deeply into characters that don't necessarily add to the story, but captures so perfectly the tail end of hippie- and counterculture as it was happening. but how well can you do with a 2-hour film based on a 20 minute song. enjoyed the pee bit
WilliamLaingPRO
6.0★ · 06/10/26
Holy fall off
Holy fall off
Braunylad
6.0★ · 11/26/25
Hippies man.
Hippies man.
va24mar
8.0★ · 08/24/24
1969 | Arthur Penn
Arthur Penn’s follow-up to his counterculture smash-hit “Bonnie and Clyde” was “Alice’s Restaurant”, an adaptation of Arlo Guthrie’s song ‘Alice’s Restaurant Massacree’, which is an 18 minute masterpiece of a satirical anti-war protest song. Guthrie’s probably one of my favorite folk musicians of the time and the song is among my all-time favorites, so I was looking forward to this a lot.
And this might very well be even more counterculture than “Bonnie and Clyde”. It mostly follows the true story Arlo tells in the song, which follows himself and a friend who, after a thanksgiving dinner, illegally dump some trash and are subsequently arrested, put into jail and tried. It’s that offense that prevents Arlo from being drafted, the joke being that he’s not moral enough to join the war in vietnam and kill and rape and all, for being a litterbug.
It also adds some fictional drama around the titular Alice and her husband as well as the church they live in and turned into a hippie commune. Now, the stuff about Arlo and the littering and the draft is obviously the best part of this film, but the rest is a very sympathetic yet tragic depiction of the counterculture movements of the time and its limitations and failures.
It’s a look at free love and communes as well as drug abuse and it’s obviously anti-establishment, anti-war and anti-conformity, but also shines a light on traditions and traditional values in the movement and how these people can tear themselves apart.
It’s a great film that has the humor inherent to the story, but also has a focus on emotions and intimacy and the last shot is super tragic. I really enjoyed this and had so much fun. It’s not as great as the song, but how could it be?
“Kid, have you rehabilitated yourself?”
”Sargeant, you got a lot of god-damn gall to ask me if I've rehabilitated myself. I mean, I mean I’m sitting here on the group W bench cause you wanna know if I’m moral enough to join the army and burn women, kids, houses and villages after being a litterbug.“
Arthur Penn’s follow-up to his counterculture smash-hit “Bonnie and Clyde” was “Alice’s Restaurant”, an adaptation of Arlo Guthrie’s song ‘Alice’s Restaurant Massacree’, which is an 18 minute masterpiece of a satirical anti-war protest song. Guthrie’s probably one of my favorite folk musicians of the time and the song is among my all-time favorites, so I was looking forward to this a lot.
And this might very well be even more counterculture than “Bonnie and Clyde”. It mostly follows the true story Arlo tells in the song, which follows himself and a friend who, after a thanksgiving dinner, illegally dump some trash and are subsequently arrested, put into jail and tried. It’s that offense that prevents Arlo from being drafted, the joke being that he’s not moral enough to join the war in vietnam and kill and rape and all, for being a litterbug.
It also adds some fictional drama around the titular Alice and her husband as well as the church they live in and turned into a hippie commune. Now, the stuff about Arlo and the littering and the draft is obviously the best part of this film, but the rest is a very sympathetic yet tragic depiction of the counterculture movements of the time and its limitations and failures.
It’s a look at free love and communes as well as drug abuse and it’s obviously anti-establishment, anti-war and anti-conformity, but also shines a light on traditions and traditional values in the movement and how these people can tear themselves apart.
It’s a great film that has the humor inherent to the story, but also has a focus on emotions and intimacy and the last shot is super tragic. I really enjoyed this and had so much fun. It’s not as great as the song, but how could it be?
1969 | Arthur Penn
Arthur Penn’s follow-up to his counterculture smash-hit “Bonnie and Clyde” was “Alice’s Restaurant”, an adaptation of Arlo Guthrie’s song ‘Alice’s Restaurant Massacree’, which is an 18 minute masterpiece of a satirical anti-war protest song. Guthrie’s probably one of my favorite folk musicians of the time and the song is among my all-time favorites, so I was looking forward to this a lot.
And this might very well be even more counterculture than “Bonnie and Clyde”. It mostly follows the true story Arlo tells in the song, which follows himself and a friend who, after a thanksgiving dinner, illegally dump some trash and are subsequently arrested, put into jail and tried. It’s that offense that prevents Arlo from being drafted, the joke being that he’s not moral enough to join the war in vietnam and kill and rape and all, for being a litterbug.
It also adds some fictional drama around the titular Alice and her husband as well as the church they live in and turned into a hippie commune. Now, the stuff about Arlo and the littering and the draft is obviously the best part of this film, but the rest is a very sympathetic yet tragic depiction of the counterculture movements of the time and its limitations and failures.
It’s a look at free love and communes as well as drug abuse and it’s obviously anti-establishment, anti-war and anti-conformity, but also shines a light on traditions and traditional values in the movement and how these people can tear themselves apart.
It’s a great film that has the humor inherent to the story, but also has a focus on emotions and intimacy and the last shot is super tragic. I really enjoyed this and had so much fun. It’s not as great as the song, but how could it be?
“Kid, have you rehabilitated yourself?”
”Sargeant, you got a lot of god-damn gall to ask me if I've rehabilitated myself. I mean, I mean I’m sitting here on the group W bench cause you wanna know if I’m moral enough to join the army and burn women, kids, houses and villages after being a litterbug.“
Arthur Penn’s follow-up to his counterculture smash-hit “Bonnie and Clyde” was “Alice’s Restaurant”, an adaptation of Arlo Guthrie’s song ‘Alice’s Restaurant Massacree’, which is an 18 minute masterpiece of a satirical anti-war protest song. Guthrie’s probably one of my favorite folk musicians of the time and the song is among my all-time favorites, so I was looking forward to this a lot.
And this might very well be even more counterculture than “Bonnie and Clyde”. It mostly follows the true story Arlo tells in the song, which follows himself and a friend who, after a thanksgiving dinner, illegally dump some trash and are subsequently arrested, put into jail and tried. It’s that offense that prevents Arlo from being drafted, the joke being that he’s not moral enough to join the war in vietnam and kill and rape and all, for being a litterbug.
It also adds some fictional drama around the titular Alice and her husband as well as the church they live in and turned into a hippie commune. Now, the stuff about Arlo and the littering and the draft is obviously the best part of this film, but the rest is a very sympathetic yet tragic depiction of the counterculture movements of the time and its limitations and failures.
It’s a look at free love and communes as well as drug abuse and it’s obviously anti-establishment, anti-war and anti-conformity, but also shines a light on traditions and traditional values in the movement and how these people can tear themselves apart.
It’s a great film that has the humor inherent to the story, but also has a focus on emotions and intimacy and the last shot is super tragic. I really enjoyed this and had so much fun. It’s not as great as the song, but how could it be?
Cestlameremichel
6.0★ · 06/01/26