Trama

A recently-widowed woman is on the road with her precocious young son, determined to make a new life for herself as a singer.

Despite admitting that she was scared of him in her never-ending quest to please him, 35-year-old homemaker and mother Alice Hyatt is devastated when her husband Donald is killed in an accident. With few job skills except that as a singer, Alice decides to move herself and her precocious 11-year-old son Tommy from their current home in Socorro, New Mexico to her hometown in Monterey, California, the only place she has ever felt happy. She plans to get singing gigs along the way to earn money to get to Monterey by the end of the summer and the start of Tommy's school year. Alice's quest for a job at each stop often leaves Tommy to fend for himself. His behavior is fostered by Alice, as their relationship is often more as trouble-making friends than mother and son. Alice's plans seldom end up as she envisions, especially as she is forced to take a waitressing job at Mel and Ruby's Diner in Tucson, Arizona, which entails working with a disparate group, including Mel, the establishment's gruff owner/short-order cook, and her fellow waitresses: wisecracking, foul-mouthed Flo and naive, shy Vera. Alice also falls into old habits, namely relying on men to make her feel fulfilled, specifically the much-younger Ben and farmer David. Those relationships may also provide her with a better perspective on her life and her bad choice of Donald as a husband.—Huggo

Alice Hyatt (Ellen Burstyn) is a 35-year old homemaker in a small New Mexico town. She has a precocious, cocky 11-year old son Tommy whom she adores and a cold, unsophisticated, demanding husband whom she tolerates. Then her husband dies and Alice and Tommy's world is torn apart. Short of money, Alice decides to move back to her hometown of Monterey, California and rekindle her singing career. On the way there she and Tommy decide to stop in Phoenix, Arizona, for a few weeks. Alice gets a job singing in a bar and things are looking up. However, Alice's terrible taste in men once again halts this progress.—grantss

"We're in this together, you know." "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (1974) by Robert Getchell is a romantic drama about Alice Hyatt (Ellen Burstyn), a recently-widowed homemaker whose marriage wasn't the happiest, although it did produce her son Tommy. She and Tommy, now a spoiled, mouthy 11-year-old (Alfred Lutter III), leave New Mexico in a station wagon to start life anew in Monterey, California, her childhood home. She wants to earn money as a singer and thinks that Monterey is where she and Tommy will find happiness, but, after a short-lived gig and a psychotic boyfriend she first experiences on the road, she escapes, only to get as far as Tucson, where she finds work as a waitress in Mel and Ruby's chaotic little diner along with new friends and handsome, rugged cowboy David, who all convince her to stay in Tucson. And Tommy doesn't mind either. Throughout this film, Alice struggles to be a single mom to the consistently ill-mannered and disrespectful Tommy, while also trying to find a loving man. As it turns out, David lashes out at much-deserving brat Tommy and challenges Alice to be a better mom and a stronger woman. Though the dramatic showdown between Alice and David in the diner is meant to convince us that Alice has finally grown a spine, it was more of a show of Alice "trying" to be tough, but not actually feeling it, especially because up until this point, she is mostly ineffectual. Everything she and Tommy says and does seems to be more of a repeat of their same bad behavior, rather than any progressive improvements. Another road stop for Alice and Tommy, in between Phoenix and Tucson, would have been a good opportunity to show Alice having a little bit of success with a man and Tommy, to show that she is learning from her mistakes.—T.B. Hayes

When Alice Hyatt is suddenly widowed after years of not-quite-blissful domesticity, she decides to travel to Monterey, California with her 11-year-old son Tommy to resume a singing career. In Phoenix, Arizona she gets a job singing at a piano bar and begins a relationship with Ben, who turns out to be married--and a spouse abuser. In Tucson, she puts her dream of singing on hold and becomes a waitress. She meets a farmer, David, and begins to think about a new life of domesticity.—alfiehitchie

It is 1947. An 8-year-old girl named Alice is growing up on a farm near Monterey, California, and has dreams of being a singer. The background is all ruby red, a deliberately theatrical and artificial feel of classic cinema, indicating satire of "Gone With the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz."

Flash forward to the summer of 1974, present-day when this was filmed. A view of the town of Soccoro, New Mexico with Mott the Hoople's All the Way From Memphis blasting on the soundtrack. Inside a tacky, blue-collar home is Alice trying to sew and she turns down her son's record player. Alice is clearly a bright and witty woman that clowns around with her son, but stuck with a bored, uncommunicative husband that works as a Coca Cola truck driver. He berates and threatens her for her son's bratty antics and behavior.

One day while Alice and her friend Bea are hanging out together, she receives a phone call that her husband died in a vehicle accident while at work. Soon afterwards, she practices her piano and singing and has a sale of her household belongings and sells the house

Alice and Tommy leave Soccoro for Monterey. They first stop in Phoenix, where she is trying to get a job singing in a bar, but the first time she's checked out by the owner and offended, but soon finds work in another bar. Soon afterwards, she meets the younger and charming Ben. Alice's son is forced to fend for himself and constantly complaining about them being stuck where they are, but she insists on staying.

One morning, a woman Alice doesn't recognize comes to Alice's motel and reveals herself to be Ben's wife. Alice assures her she knew nothing about Ben being married. Ben comes to the door screaming for his wife to get out, breaks in, and beats her to get out. He threatens Alice for telling him to calm down. Alice and her son leave immediately.

Alice and Tommy are in the car and Tommy seems indifferent to Alice's situation and trying to tell her a "Shoot the Dog" joke, despite her breakdown. They settle into a motel room in Tucson. Alice gets a job as a waitress at Mel and Ruby's Cafe, which is walking distance from them

Alice is at work for the first day at the cafe, for which she and the staff were the basis for the hit TV series "Alice", in the late 1970's and early 1980's. It is a backbreaking job for her at the extremely busy and chaotic greasy spoon diner. There's the owner and short order cook Mel, the sassy and foul-mouthed Flo, and the strange and neurotic Vera. Flo introduces Alice to the customers as the new girl and makes references to her body and Alice is offended and does not want anything to do with her personally. She also meets David, a divorced, soft-spoken rancher who is a regular customer. He takes an instant liking to her.

Alice reluctantly takes up a relationship with David and her son Tommy takes a liking to him as well. Meanwhile, Tommy forms a friendship with the tomboyish Audrey, whom he takes guitar lessons with.

One day at the diner, Flo has an outburst with Mel when he's trying to find Vera spilling ketchup all over several customers. Alice is believed to have been hurt at the outburst, but it turns out she's laughing uncontrollably and begins a friendship with Flo. They hang out together in between shifts and Flo tells her how she can make more money at the job

Alice's son celebrates his 12th birthday at David's ranch and has an outburst over his music choices and David spanks him for it and corrects Alice for having such a bratty son. They both leave the house. Alice and Tommy have a fight and she drops him off the side of the road.

Alice receives a call that Tommy is at a juvenile detention center drunk and that he and Audrey were getting drunk on ripple. She oversleeps the next day

Alice is unable to function at work and Flo takes her to the ladies room for a chat. Alice tells her about how she's depended on men her whole life, her late husband, and broken relationship with David. Flo also tells her of her single parenting and about dental work her daughter needs that will cost hundreds. Vera is in the diner alone trying to break up a fight going on.

Alice and Flo return to work and publicly, she and David work out their differences and reconcile. Afterward, Tommy tells her it's okay if they don't go to Monterey. At the same time, a Monterey Hotel is in front of them while they're walking.