Anchorage

I WAS A LITTLE HESITANT ABOUT SEEING THIS FILM BECAUSE I WAS AFRAID THAT THE FILM WOULD ROMANTICIZE DRUG PUSHERS AS HARMLESS "FREE SPIRITS" AS THE AWFUL "EASY RIDER" (WHICH WAS ONE OF THE WORST FILMS I'VE SEEN AT THE CINEMA VILLAGE- ESPECIALLY SINCE IT DEPICTED ALL WORKING CLASS RURAL PEOPLE AS ULTRA-VIOLENT REDNECKS). FORTUNEATLY, THIS FILM NEVER DOES THAT. IN FACT, THE CHARACTER , JOHN DOES SOMETHING THAT PROVES HE IS AS EVIL AS JAMES EARL RAY AND BYRON DE LA BECKWITH. (OF COURSE, IT'S NOT HARD TO THINK OF DRUG DEALERS AS EVIL SINCE THEY ARE SELLING DEATH TO PEOPLE- AND THAT CERTAINLY INCLUDES THE SACKLER FAMILY. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY NOONE IN THAT FAMILY HAS ENDED UP IN JAIL). I'M ALSO GLAD THAT THE DEPICTION OF THE DEPUTY SHERIFF WAS SO SYMPATHETIC BECAUSE YOU DON'T ALWAYS SEE THAT IN FILMS. (FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THE REASONS THAT I DISLIKED "THELMA & LOUISE" WAS BECAUSE THE TWO CHARACTERS BRUTALIZED AN INNOCENT POLICE OFFICER AND LOCKED HIM IN THE TRUNK OF HIS CAR. THAT SCENE WHEN SUSAN SARANDON RECENTLY CALLED TWO POLICE OFFICERS WHO HAD JUST BEEN ASSASSINATED, "FASCISTS."). THE SECOND ACT OF VIOLENCE THAT OCCURS IN THIS FILM IS JUST AS SHOCKING AND THE REMORSEFUL TONE THAT DAKOTA LOESCH USES IN THE MONOLGUE THAT FOLLOWS THAT SCENE CONVINCES US THAT HIS CHARACTER, JAKE, IS CAPABLE OF REDEMPTION. I REMEMBER HEARING A DISCUSSION ON PBS MANY YEARS AGO ABOUT HOW "REEFER MADNESS" WAS ORIGINALLY TITLED "TELL YOUR CHILDREN" AND IT WAS MEANT TO BE A CAUTIONARY TALE ABOUT THE DANGERS OF MARIJUANA. BUT, SINCE EVERYTHING IN THAT FILM WAS SO EXAGGERATED, IT ENDED UP DEFEATING ITS OWN PURPOSE. THAT WON'T HAPPEN HERE BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING EXAGGERATED ABOUT "ANCHORAGE."

This movie won the Grand Prize at the Stony Brook Film Festival. Me and my husband go every year with our son. We were not prepared for how much this movie would emotionally affect us all when we saw it then. Funny. Violent. Dangerous. Sad. Looking forward to taking the trip to Anchorage again.

I saw this movie as part of the New York Film Week when it was on the film festival circuit! You do not want to miss this film. It is the kind of film that really sticks with you for days after seeing it. I've been telling my friends about it for months and can finally bring them to a theater to see it! Flee Fly Flo!