What it’s about
Young widow Alice (Burstyn) is left to make a new life for herself and her young son, with no prospects and precious little money. With Alice harboring vague hopes of becoming a singer, she and her boy take an eventful road-trip west. Watching their challenging but colorful journey unfold is as satisfying as the hopeful outcome they ultimately achieve.
Why we love it
Here Martin Scorsese branches out into fresh cinematic territory, a world away from the gritty, urban, ethnic male preserves of “Mean Streets.” The personal, heartfelt quality of Alice helps the director score a bull's-eye. The gifted Burstyn, noble yet far from glamorous, seems to personify every average woman forced to face a new life chapter on her own, while singer/actor Kristofferson helps spark some divine chemistry as Alice's new, no-nonsense boyfriend. But Diane Ladd (Laura Dern's real-life Ma) nearly steals the picture playing Alice's hard-edged waitress colleague, Flo. Also look for a young, predictably precocious Jodie Foster in a small role.