User reviews

Alice Tate (Mia Farrow) is living in New York City, married to Doug (William Hurt), a man from a wealthy family. They have two kids, a lavish condo and domestic employees. Alice eats caviar, spends her days shopping, getting manicures and pedicures, and so on. However, she's not very happy. She's even been thinking about having an affair. When she finally goes to see an acupuncturist, Dr. Yang (Keye Luke), on several friends' advice because her back is bothering her, he tells her that her problem is in her head, not her back. Through his extremely unorthodox treatments, Alice gradually transforms her life.

Although there is a fair amount of light humor in Alice, and it is relatively upbeat and hopeful, the bulk of this film is much more in the vein of director/writer Woody Allen's more "serious" straightforward dramas, ala Interiors (1978), September (1987) and Another Woman (1988). Interestingly, Allen has a strong fantastical thread running through Alice at the same time, and it references a number of literary classics--both thematically and occasionally in terms of more literal content-—resulting in a kinship also with Allen's A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982).

At its heart, Alice is a film about awakening and then achieving authenticity. It is told with a nod to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843) (which is even supported by the appearance of "O Tannenbaum/We Wish You A Merry Christmas" by Liberace on the soundtrack at one point), with slight references also to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and other fantasy literature, including J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan (1911).

The catalyst through all of Alice's revelations is Dr. Yang, whose slightly rundown Chinatown office is symbolic of Alice periodically making trips to another world for enlightenment, or making repeated treks to pose questions to a metaphorical Oracle at Delphi. Dr. Yang's treatments are designed to address the various ways in which Alice needs to "open up", the various emotional needs she must come to terms with.

It is interesting to note, especially after Allen's The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001), that the initial spark for Alice's transformation is provided by hypnotism, as that device appears for the same ultimate purpose in Curse. This probably has some significance for Allen outside of his life in film, although it is difficult to say whether its because he's undergone hypnotic treatment himself or whether he just sees it as a metaphor for digging beneath public facades which one has fooled oneself into believing, too.

Dr. Yang's treatments either result in encountering some important person or event from Alice's past and/or tapping into some unrealized potential. The encounters are often not with real persons. They can be memories made almost literal, ghosts, or hallucinations. These are the most direct parallel to A Christmas Carol. As in that story, eventually Dr. Yang's treatments lead Alice away from an embrace of materialism for its own sake to an appreciation of more humanist values. Of course, Allen makes it a bit more complex than this, so that the positive transformation also has an impact on personal relationships that could be seen as negative, as well.

Alice is also remarkable for its cinematography, which is usually symbolic of the dramatic scenarios. Sometimes this is very overt, as when Dr. Yang's office transforms into an amusement park midway (the slowly strobing red light was particularly exquisite, with red also symbolizing caution), and often it is subtler, as with the tracking shots of Alice and Vicki (Judy Davis) seen through various glass-like surfaces, or Alice and Joe (Joe Mantegna) through a fence as prison bars, or Alice and Dr. Yang with a wall in between them as the camera pans from one to the other, and so on.

Of course the performances are good--Allen can even get admirable performances out of actors whom I usually do not care for, such as William Hurt. Of course most of the dialogue can easily be imagined as emerging from Allen's mouth instead of whatever character happens to be on screen. And of course the music selection is a fine collection of mostly pre-bop classic jazz. In other words, this is a typical post-Annie Hall (1977) Allen film, so if you like his style, Alice is a safe bet, and if you already know you dislike his style, you're probably not even reading this far.

Less known that Allen's "Annie Hall", "Hannah and her Sisters", "Crimes and Misdemeanors", and "Manhattan", "Alice" is a charming and delightful film that can be viewed as Allen's remake of "Juliet of Spirits" with some obvious themes from "Alice in Wonderland". Mia Farrow plays a wealthy New Yorker who one day feels that something is missing in her sheltered and comfortable life. She turns to a Chinese doctor whose magic herbs help her to reevaluate her life and her relationships with her husband, lover, mother, and sister. She may not find the answers for all the questions but she certainly learned a lot about herself. During the few days that film takes place, Alice experiences romance, finds spirituality, and even enjoys the power of invisibility. This film has one of the most optimistic endings in Woody's film. Mia Farrow is absolutely wonderful.

Mia Farrow excels in this unexpectedly charming fable. I think if people happened upon this movie not knowing it was a Woody Allen film, they would be more than pleased with it. Knowing it is Woody, maybe many fans hold it to a higher standard. True, it's not anywhere near being his funniest or greatest film. But I think it is a well-cast, well-shot, well-produced, and even well-written tale. Knowing it's history, I was not expecting to like it nearly as much as I did. But I did, and I look forward to seeing it again. Mia really is underrated as an actress, isn't she?

Next to the Front, this contains Woody Allen's best ending. There's one striking visual image in the plot I still can't get out my head: Mia is cheating on William Hurt with Joseph Mantegna and the 2 of them are over at Mantegna's apartment, while a glorious downpour crashes against a huge glass window behind them. The sound of the rain hitting the window compliments their nervous dialogue perfectly. One of Farrow's nicest performances (the Purple Rose of Cairo is her most heartbreaking). And where else are you going to see invisibility in the same story as Mother Theresa? One of Allen's better cast jobs, too. Even the smallest roles are exquisite. Gwen Vernon as Farrow's old time movie star mother is sublime. And Bernadette Peters makes a great wise cracking muse.

Mia Farrow is "Alice" in this 1990 Woody Allen film. Here, Allen borrows from "Juliet of the Spirits" and "Alice in Wonderland" to make a delightful movie about an unhappy woman trying to find herself.

Alice (Farrow) married a wealthy man (William Hurt) and gave up a career in fashion. She has everything - a gorgeous New York apartment, two children, and servants. She spends her time shopping and having beauty treatments. At her kids' school, she meets a man (Joe Mantegna) and is shocked to realize that she's attracted to him. When she goes to a Dr. Yang (Keye Luke) for a back problem, Dr. Yang sees right away that Alice's pain is psychological. He gives her an herb to take.

The herb has an amazing effect on Alice, who then openly flirts with the object of her affection, Joe. Dr. Yang keeps hitting Alice up with potions: one makes her invisible, so she can watch Joe with his psychiatrist ex-wife (Judy Davis); another reunites her with the ghost of her first love (Alec Baldwin). Alice and Joe finally get together. But one of the potions helps her to find something out that she not only didn't know, but that changes her life.

Mia Farrow does a good job as Alice; in my opinion, other than "Rosemary's Baby," she did her best work with Allen. The rest of the cast is good and sail through this film about self-discovery, unrealized goals, and passion. An unsung film of Allen's that deserves more attention.

When I first saw Alice, I didn't know it was a Woody Allen movie, but I can imagine if I'd been expecting the usual stammering joke fest, I might have wondered where Woody's influence went. He doesn't always make strict comedies, though, and this movie proves it.

Mia Farrow and William Hurt are married, have two children, and live the high-life. But Mia, in the title role, is unsatisfied and she doesn't know why. She visits a Chinese acupuncturist to help with some back pain and enters a journey of self-discovery.

Mia does a wonderful job in this slightly off-beat flick. Just as in The Purple Rose of Cairo when she rises above an unhappy marriage and finds herself, she expresses curiosity, sadness, hope, and invigoration all at the right times. I happen to be a Mia Farrow fan, so I was expecting to like this movie, but my mom doesn't like her nearly as much as I do, and she still really enjoyed Alice. As always in Woody Allen movies, there's a large cast, and this one includes Alec Baldwin, Blythe Danner, Cybill Shepherd, Joe Montegna, June Squibb, Julie Kavner, Bernadette Peters, Gwen Verdon, and Bob Balaban. Alice is thoughtful and sweet, and a great movie to watch when you're pondering the universe.

Or "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (Scorsese fans will get the reference), there seems to be some inner-girl escape-impulse associated to the name Alice and Woody Allen's heroine, played by the irresistible Mia Farrow, is no exception.

Alice is married to Doug, a wealthy businessman played by William Hurt. Together, they live in a luxurious apartment of Manhattan, her kids go to a private Catholic school, she's got a baby sitter, a cook, a trainer, a decorator, and all the time in the world to go shopping, get beauty treatments, gossip with her friends... and worry.

Some deep torment expresses itself through backaches and a sort of Catholic guilt due to her infatuation on Joe Ruffalo, a dark and handsome Jazz musician played by Joe Mantegna. Something is burning inside, channeling itself through that innocent lust, behind the obvious, there might be some strong existential call. Following numerous advice, Alice visits Dr. Yang (Keye Luke) a herbalist who seems to know what it's all about, certainly not the back.

The film deals with serious matters such as existential boredom, meaning of life, infidelity, but the "Chinese Riff" and tango leitmotifs remind us that this is all played for laughs, so we're not surprised when the treatment ventures in the realm of fantasy. Comedy needs that extra-kick when the laughs are too mild-mannered. For instance, when Alice mentions that penguin mate for life, Yang's answers "you think they're Catholic?" echo the infamous 'pigeon' quote from "Hannah and her Sisters" and it's not a good sign when Allen recycles his own jokes.

Only halfway through the film when the adoration of Mother Teresa and a few references about childhood reemerged that I understood that Catholicism wouldn't be the butt-monkey of Allen's humor but something with a strong bearing on Alice's guilt and existential crisis. Something that can be summed up in that quote from "Inherit the Wind": "What touches you, what warms you? Every man has a dream. What do you dream about? What... what do you need?"

The answer is surely not in Alice's life, Doug constantly belittles her ambitions, a TV series executives played by Cybil Shepherd dismisses her writing projects, and everyone treats her with relative condescendence. It's hard to believe that the film was released 22 years after "Rosemary's Baby". Here is Mia Farrow as a middle-aged mother caught in the suffocating coziness of an apartment supported by seemingly benevolent people and looking as frail, powerless and "young" as her Rosemary counterpart.

I guess fragility has always been Mia's strongest suit, one she wears with grace and gentleness, the only negative feeling she's capable to embody is that Catholic guilt less as a principle than an alibi to her incapability to fight, except her own demons. That's Alice Tate in a nutshell, and one can draw parallels with Cecilia from "The Purple Rose of Cairo", a woman who could only find artifices to escape her condition (and coincidentally, the film became my highly rater movie for helpfulness).

So there's one thing that Woody Allen's "Alice" gets right is the casting, Diane Keaton is too strong and free-spirited to fit the character. It's obvious Allen wrote it for and with Mia in mind, a few years before their marriage would collapse, foreshadowing of many scandals and accusations. I'd rather ignore the storm and contemplate the silence; this is one of Mia Farrow's best roles and it was written by someone who obviously knew her a lot and loved her enough to provide her a character with a happy ending, not bittersweet but happy. Mia was overdue one.

There's a catch though, she's so sweet and genuinely sympathetic that she' not really the best choice for a leading comedic role, it's not a case of "women can't be funny" but there's a moment where after drinking of a mixture, she learns how to talk with a seductive voice and talks sexy with Joe , who responds nervously. That scene was funny but it was incongruous and I was afraid it would be a "reveal your inner self" moment. I needed to relate to the real Alice, which happens to be in line with Mia's personality.

So the film is a series of situation where a fantasy device allows Alice to know about her husband's whereabouts, to talk with her deceased ex-boyfriend, a sexy bad boy played by Alec Baldwin, to have a hilarious talk with her muse played by Bernadette Peters, to talk with her mother... it's basically a psychoanalysis through magical plants with many visual gags, some genuinely good moments, especially the visit to her sister played by Blythe Danner, but we're never taken to the heights reached by "Hannah and Her Sisters" or "The Purple Rose of Cairo" except for a hilarious sequence involving a love potion.

Despite a few moments of creativity, the film is Woody Allen at his mildest, driving us at cruise speed to a satisfying ending where Alice finally fulfills her dreams because she knew how to control herself and get rid from her entourage's nuisance, embodying that quote from a French great man named Clemenceau: "in life, you've got to know what you want to do, have the courage to say it and the energy to do it."

Still, had they made a "Real Housewives of Manhattan" in 1990, I wonder if a character like Alice Tate would have been kept in regard to audiences' premises. She'd be just too gentle, too shy, too introverted to contribute to the narrative dynamics... and yet she is the titular heroine of a film with a high promise, the result is uneven, it's heart-warming but slow-paced though not deprived of interesting dynamics.

Maybe there's a reason why it's rarely mentioned among Allen's best... but never among his worst. Some would call it a gem, I would call it an enjoyable little film. Which is good enough.

This was the first Woody Allen film I got to see in the theaters and -- since it has such strong fantasy elements -- it was truly a magical experience. Compared to a film like "Crimes and Misdemeanors" it's a bit of a lightweight, but taken on its own terms "Alice" is an enjoyable portrait of a woman trying to find herself and her spiritual center. And there are plenty of funny moments along the way, which I wouldn't dare spoil for you. All I'll say is watch for Bob Balaban (the dead guy in "Deconstructing Harry") in the party scene late in the film.

This film also marked the first time Allen worked with the amazing Judy Davis, who would make more of an impression in "Husbands and Wives" two years later.

Not one of Woody Allen's best films, "Alice" is nonetheless far better than what he's been turning out lately. The structure seems too random and unfocused, but it's still full of Allen's wise observations and commentary on human nature and modern-day life – the qualities that make Woody Allen movies so special. The biggest fault I find with this film is Mia Farrow. Her run of films with Woody Allen are among his best, and her contributions are immense. Here she just seems unconvincing as a wealthy upper-Eastsider. Yes, we meet her character while she's questioning her life, but somehow the hat, the hair, the shoes just aren't sophisticated enough for a woman who's been living that lifestyle. She lacks the hardboiled edge of a seasoned New Yorker. Because she's too soft right from the beginning, her transformation falls short. The film is helped by all the star cameos, and even though they're brief, the characters are well-defined. "Alice" is definitely worth a look.

I don't always find Woody Allen funny or stimulating, but I do think he's very smooth and efficient as a filmmaker, and that's why the stumbling "Alice" surprised me. It has bits and pieces of clever comedy and fantasy, but it's saddled with a script that seems made up of parts from different movies. Mia Farrow is charming (as usual) playing a New York City wife and mother whose visit to a Chinese herb doctor sets her on a journey of self-discovery. So far, so good. But I found nothing of interest in her sour marriage to William Hurt (their scenes are poor from all standpoints) and nothing good can be said for Alec Baldwin as a ghost. Keye Luke is perfectly cast as the unconventional medico who helps Alice change her outlook on life, and the film picks up a bit at the 60 minute mark with other nice turns by Bernadette Peters and Blythe Danner. But when Woody Allen veers back to the marriage stuff, his narrative becomes unhappily inconclusive. "Alice" plays very flat on television; perhaps in the theater--with an appreciative audience--it was somewhat more bearable. ** from ****

This is one of those scatter gun films that kept me attending throughout. Of course, it is part of the Woody Allen canon. Mia is rich and has it all, all except a feeling of purpose and happiness. She shops, eats, lives in luxury, and, ultimately, admires more than anything, Mother Teresa. But now we move into the supernatural element, where Keye Luke (number one son) is able to provide her with magical potions, allowing her to observe the lives of those she wishes. It isn't a good thing for her. The man she truly loves and finally gets together with is conflicted and can't make the move forward. Her husband is a total jerk, using her as a prop. I was so pleased with the way this film ended.

This movie is Mia Farrow's most magical moment. She glows in this film and as Woody Allen doesn't appear in it, and the film is not a heavy drama like Interiors or Another Woman, it will appeal to most audiences. The plot dabbles in mysticism and magic, similar to A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy and his segment in New York Stories, and is basically the story of a pampered woman in search of her identity. As Farrow's Alice is onscreen nearly every moment, the film couldn't have a better title. Alice begins to question her religious faith amidst an upper-class Manhattan setting and intellectual friends--in other words, she plays a female, Catholic version of the character Woody Allen has played in many other movies. There are not a lot of laughs in the movie but it still remains a classy winner, and a good start to Allen's '90s career. The big name cast (with the exception of William Hurt and Joe Mantegna) contribute cameo appearances, more or less; a casting move he would continue later in the decade. Not a movie that lends itself to countless viewings, like Manhattan or The Purple Rose of Cairo, but a definite charmer.

Alice doesn't so much go through the looking glass or down a rabbit-hole as get strung out on Dr. Yang's herbs. She also has more money than she knows what to do with and Dr Yang's herbs are the conduit into a whole new world of impulsive and uncharacteristic behavior not to mention invisibility and the ability to fly like Supergirl. Despite its sterling cast this is minor, low-key Allen, designed as a vehicle for Farrow and she's excellent. The movie itself falls between 'the early funny ones' and the somewhat more serious later films. It's a doodle at best but even a doodle from Mr Allen isn't to be sniffed at.

Not one of Woody Allen's best. Has its moments but the plot is average. The whole upper-crustness and superficiality of all the characters was quite irritating.

Mia Farrow was miscast as Alice. Woody Allen wrote the role for her, as he did many of his 80s movies (they were in a relationship, after all). However, she simply comes across as irritatingly mousy and neurotic. Typically Woody Allen would play the neurotic character, as that is all he knows (by his own admission) but as the part required a female, he probably thought Mia Farrow was his female equivalent.

William Hurt nails the aloof, too-rich-to-care, stuck-up husband, though his character is quite irritating. Good support from Joe Mantegna, Alec Baldwin, Judy Davis and Cybill Shepherd.

Overall, OK but certainly not a must-see, even if you are, like me, a Woody Allen fan.

While I still don't flat out love this film, I was surprised to find I liked it much more on a second viewing.

While my original problem with it - thematically it's arguably a weaker, less original re-make of 'Purple Rose of Cairo' still stands, I found myself charmed, caught up and moved, off-setting those moments that are clunkier, too cute, or even borderline racist in their stereotypes.

It will never be my favorite Allen film, but it's certainly still a strong effort and Mia Farrow may never have been better. There's enough movie magic here, that it's certainly worth seeing, and for myself, owning.

Alice (9 out of 10)

Woody took my disbelief and suspended it high above Manhattan, so I could peer down upon Mia's Chinese-herb-aided exploration of infidelity, family and Catholicism.

Allen here is clearly more in touch with both yin and yang than Kubrick in Eyes Wide Shut. A dream, not a nightmare; a trail, not a train track.

While Brian De Palma was in his part of the Park Avenue section of Manhattan making the curious disaster that was Bonfire of the Vanities, Woody Allen was in his section making something of a lighter story, satirical but less barbed and not quite as outrageous. It's about an upper-class housewife who has pretty much anything she could want, and is pampered: high-rise apartment, high-paid massages and clothes and jewelry and whatever, but she also has a boring husband and a back that is aching. So she's sent to a sort of mystical Chinese doctor who gives her a hypnotizing trick, and starts to give her herbs. This spurs on a different way of thinking, or, at least, an affair with a musician, and she also revisits painful memories of her past: a broken relationship with her older sister, and a her former lover who died when she was younger.

The film addresses an interest that can be found in many of Allen's films, something one wouldn't expect from a filmmaker usually associated with therapist couches and satire on neurotics and intellectual New Yorkers, which is magic. One saw it in Purple Rose of Cairo, and one sees it here manifested in a fable structure. Alice (a charming and sometimes affecting Mia Farrow) has to change by her own accord, but is assisted by these 'herbs' that make her invisible, see her dead lover (Alec Baldwin in a great supporting role) in the same room with her, fly high in the sky, and speak with her sister at their old family home in her mind (whether that part is from the opium, if it even is opium, is hard to say), and a potion that will make any men fall desperately in love with her, which makes for the climax of the picture.

Meanwhile, she tries to find herself, her creative spirit as a writer (if it's even there) and a possible lover in musician Joe Mantagna plays. There's some whimsy that Allen is dealing with here, and some intentionally obvious cinematic tricks (a spotlight on Baldwin, the choice in the music like out of a 40's escapist movie, the use of red tint when Alice is being hypnotized), but there's also a smart-serious undercurrent for Alice as a character. What will she do with herself? Will she stay with her husband in a complacent existence, or go with Joe, who may have his heart elsewhere? The resolution to this all is the kind of ending that wouldn't usually come in a fairy tale (I suspect it may have been inspired by Farrow herself, and her dedication to helping out third-world poverty-stricken children). But the film is satisfying as something light and fluffy, some satire of the rich and their petty concerns thrown in, and some existential 'Woody' angst thrown in for good measure.

It's not a major work by any means, and I think Allen is content with it that way. It's also a fine showcase for Farrow (what films in the 80's weren't, i.e. Broadway Danny Rose) and her skills as a comedienne and as a serious actor, in equal measure.

Review: This is another movie from the Woody Allen camp, about a woman whose in a troubled relationship and looks for comfort from another man. The only difference in this movie is that Mia Farrow seeks help from a Chinese healer who gives her different powers which sends her into a fantasy world. One of her powers is to disappear, which is when she catches her husband doing the dirty on her, so she decides to leave her wealthy husband for a man who she meets whilst picking up her kids from school. Some of the fantasy scenes go a bit too far, like when she's flying with Alec Baldwin in the sky, but the storyline isn't as bad as some of the movies that I have seen from Woody Allen lately. The main problem that I found with the film was Mia Farrow, who I find emotionless and quite dry. She really can't deliver wit or warmth to her roles and her constant whining spoilt the movie for me. Apart from that, the movie is watchable, with many twists and turns throughout. Watchable!

Round-Up: I wonder if Woody Allen would have used Mia Farrow so much if he wasn't with her? For a writer and director who mostly makes comedies, she really would be the last actress who I would star in my movies. There are some good actors in this film, like William Hurt and Joe Mantegna, but it's mostly based around Farrow who was quite dull. I liked the moral of the story at the end, which was quite sweet, but the main character had to go through a hell of a journey to get there. Basically I have come to terms with the fact that a lot of Woody Allen movies would have been much better if he didn't cast Mia Farrow in the lead, but that's just my personal opinion.

Budget: $12million Worldwide Gross: $7.3million

I recommend this movie to people who are into there Woody Allen movies about a woman in a troubled relationship and seeks help from a Chinese healer. 4/10

Only Woody Allen can direct such a great film with fantastic actors from the 1940's to the present day STARS! Mia Farrow,(Alice),"Angela Mooney",'96, was a mixed up Catholic gal who was struggling with herself and also her husband, William Hurt,(Doug),"The Blue Butterfly",'04, who is very rich and spoiled his wife in every way possible except in BED! Alice visits a Dr. Yang,(Keye Luke),"The Falcon's Brother",'42, who gives her all kinds of herbs which helps her find herself and at the same time Alice has some hot romance with Joe Mantegna on the way to becoming a normal, happy Gal. It was great seeing a former great veteran actor,Keye Luke, who use to play #1 Son to Charlie Chan back in the 40's and many other actors who appear in the picture from out of nowhere! If you love Woody films, this is one of his greatest!!

The thing that comes to someone's mind, by seeing a Woody Allen movie is the word "nice". As the naive art in painting, his work accomplished the same title in the world of cinema. Whichever movie of Allen you will see, it won't be great, it won't be bad, it will be a "nice" movie....and once again this movie is another pale of "nice". If you want to spend 140 minutes without exhausting your mind, but nonetheless have a "nice" entertaining, than it's your movie. Particularly if you're at risk falling asleep and then waking up, because it won't matter! I mean, i don't think i will ever see an Allen piece of art, that surprises me, it will certainly be nice and smooth. Not more, not less. It's almost like an established brand in the cinema. And dear reader, this little text of mine i am writing right now, by watching this movie. That shows quite "nice" the character of it... And the ultimate question is: "will Allen finally struggle for excellence, and try to make a "great" movie? When judging his wife, you must notice that he hasn't done it yet with his women.... Not a good sign for his movies...

Mia Farrow and William Hurt are a wealthy New York married couple. Her life revolves around shopping, arranging her husband's social life and supervising the servants who supervise her children, in whom she has only a cursory interest. Suddenly, she becomes sexually aggressive with Joe Mantegna, a jazz musician. Due to her "Catholic guilt," she is afflicted with odd back pains and consults Keye Luke, a weird Chinatown acupuncturist/herbalist, whose office doubles as an opium den. Supposedly inspired by Frederico Fellini's "Juliet of the Spirits" (1965) starring his wife, Giulietta Masina, director Woody Allen seems obsessed with forced visual trickery that is as unlikely as the actions of his characters. Allen made some superb films with Mia Farrow in 1984, 1985, and 1986. But in this box office flop, she is portrayed as a ditzy, frivolous, self-absorbed twit with artistic pretensions. Two more movies and two years later, their partnership ended, with "Blue Jasmine" (2013) providing the post mortem.