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Controversial films often earn that distinction by examining concepts that are very much against societal norms. This picture shows Natalie Wood in the 1969 film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, a picture that very much fits that bill. The film follows two couples, one of which rationalizes and begins to take part in extra-marital affairs.
The film is considered an example of abject art, where art is detached from social norms. The Vietnam war, notorious for its brutality and horror, has been the subject of an immense number of films that seek to comment on war and the psychological effects of it. Few achieve this as deeply and transfixingly as 1978’s The Deer Hunter. It follows the experience of three soldiers captured by North Vietnam who are forced to play Russian roulette for the entertainment of their captors. Although successful and acclaimed, it was immensely controversial for it’s depiction of the North Vietnamese and the United States’ role in the war.
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The May-December romancing between Alice and Harry has all the pop of an old “Love, American Style” rerun. Narrative formulas can be a source of pleasure, but part of what makes Home Again such a snooze is that very little feels at stake. But she’s financially comfortable, lives in a lovely rent-free home with her two adorable kids and has three handsome young men doting on her. (World’s smallest violin, anyone?) Harry, Teddy and George, meanwhile, are so innocuous to begin with that there’s no evolution in their relationship with Alice. But based on the carefree existence of all of the characters, there are no serious signs of anxiety.
The reason the film works so well is in addition to a nice light touch in writing and directing it is delivered by a strong cast of both well-known actors and some very exciting newcomers. This is where, if you read way too much into it like I did, you get to the good stuff. If viewed through a specific lens, Home Again could be seen as an examination of modern gender relations. This point is further highlighted by the fact that she idolizes her father despite him not exactly being a prize either. She fits the guys in this film into boxes of positive traits and for the most part, they fit them, at least until the plot deems this equilibrium is no longer stable.
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It features several explicitly sexual themes and other scenes that have extensive and extremely graphic violence. The ending death scene became particularly infamous for its graphic nature. However, the success of the film showed studios films could be graphic and still successful. Ancient Rome has long been a subject depicted on film to popular acclaim. However, few films did so as controversially and explicitly as 1979’s Caligula.
It doesn't matter that the three young men who move into the guest house are all unemployed film artists living in one of the most expensive cities in the nation. Everything is cheerful and upbeat with the characters having lavish and long meals at home or in posh restaurants. Even a fist fight between one of the young men and Alice's husband is a light-hearted affair.
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Tap "Sign me up" below to receive our weekly newsletter with updates on movies, TV shows, Rotten Tomatoes podcast and more. Susan WloszczynaSusan Wloszczyna spent much of her nearly thirty years at USA TODAY as a senior entertainment reporter. Now unchained from the grind of daily journalism, she is ready to view the world of movies with fresh eyes. Speaking of which, after her awards-worthy work in “Wild” and on TV’s “Big Little Lies,” Witherspoon is taking at least two steps backward as Alice.
Even with a script that was less than spectacular, the film could have succeeded in capturing the charm of movies from another era, setting viewers in a comfortable space with a pretty kitchen and cozy story. But in 2017, the glaring homogeneity of Home Again feels tone deaf in a way that supersedes any nostalgic charm. Within this genre, though, maybe we should take a minute to think about our expectations and whether it’s reasonable to calibrate them. Truth be told, the mechanics, direction, and production of Home Again are all perfectly fine.
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Dealing with this, all while remaining a solid rock of a single mother, but making mistakes in love and career, she turns to her new unconventional family of sorts for support. And it goes both ways, as the guys rely on her and learn lessons about love, family, and navigating Hollywood. Witherspoon in turn delivers this character with stunning alacrity and weight. Much of the humor and situations are for a more mature audience. Worse, the movie’s godless worldview is strongly Romantic. Thus, the characters pursue their personal dreams and happiness apart from God and without any objective moral standards, much less any strong biblical standards.
The writing is good and the dialogue is very well written, this movie is all about the characters, and the writing enhances the connections between them. 8/10 for Home Again, it's a worthwhile sweet movie to enjoy if you're in the right mood for this kind of film. Alice is positioned as a "brave" and "strong" woman for moving her kids across the country and starting over. Well see, she is the daughter of a deceased filmmaker who had a successful career and left her a multi-million dollar California estate … conveniently, one with a guest house for the three young men to live in.
The 1950’s was a time of strict cultural conformity and frowned upon controversy and movies pushing the limits of social acceptability. For this reason, the 1953 movie The Moon is Blue was a controversial one. It follows a young unmarried woman who goes to the apartment of two older playboy men. They are disappointed when their efforts to win her over fail as she much prefers to discuss the hot button cultural issues around sexuality of the day.
The discussion of these topics on film made it a controversial release. The 1960 film Peeping Tom was thought of as a horrible film at the time, but is an example of a film that became beloved in retrospect and extremely influential on other films. It follows a serial killer who murders young women and uses a camera to record his actions, played by Carl Boehm.
Alice has been separated from Austen for about five months. She’s just trying to get her feet on the ground back in her old home and maintain a relatively normal life for her daughters. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is an example of a film that was controversial upon it’s release, but as social norms and standards have changed, has been re-examined as is now viewed retrospectively as a classic of the genre. The film is a bizarre horror-musical comedy mix that largely is a parody of the old-fashioned science fiction films of the 1930’s and 40’s, and deals with themes of sexuality and androgyny. In 2005, it was selected as worthy of special preservation by the library of congress due to it’s eventual status as a cult classic.
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