1969 (film)

Two boys, Ralph and Scott, hitchhike home from college, arriving on Easter morning and shout their greetings across the glen to their families during a lakeside Easter Sunrise service, much to the amusement of Ralph's younger sister, Beth, and mother, Ev, and embarrassment of Scott's mother, Jessie, and father, Cliff. Later that day, they drive Scott's older brother, Alden, who is shipping off to Vietnam, to the bus depot; Alden pushes Scott when Scott says that his Marine brother is afraid to go to Vietnam. They begin fighting until their father arrives wondering what is going on.

A few weeks later, Scott and Ralph again return home from college to attend Beth's high school graduation, where they learn that Ralph has flunked out of college (thus making him eligible to be drafted). Ralph and Scott decide to spend the summer on the road, living out of their van and experiencing all the freedom that the counterculture has to offer. Eventually, they arrive back at their hometown in the middle of its summer festival, where they learn that Alden has disappeared and is considered missing in action. Ralph and Scott hatch a plan to steal their files from the local draft board office, but they are caught, and Ralph is arrested.

Scott is now determined to avoid Ralph's fate and plans to leave town and head to Canada to avoid the draft. Scott invites Beth to travel in his van on his trip out of town and to stay away until the end of the war. They admit their attraction to each other and make love in the van. Later, the two decide to visit Ralph in jail to tell him that they are leaving. Ralph reveals in a very sarcastic tone that he actually wants to go to Vietnam. When he learns that his friend and his sister have had sexual relations, he disowns Scott and ignores Beth.

Scott and Beth get to the Canada–US border and are about to cross but have a change of heart and head back to Maryland. When they get home, they learn of Alden's death in the line of duty. Scott leads a huge march downtown in the midst of Alden's funeral, where Ralph is released from jail and the two friends are reunited. The film ends with a narration by Scott, announcing that his family and friends join hundreds of thousands of other Americans towards Washington, D.C. to protest the Vietnam War.

• Robert Downey Jr. as Ralph Carr
• Kiefer Sutherland as Scott Denny
• Bruce Dern as Cliff Denny
• Mariette Hartley as Jessie Denny
• Winona Ryder as Beth Carr
• Joanna Cassidy as Ev Carr

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 55% based on reviews from 11 critics.[2]

Rita Kempley of The Washington Post wrote, "[The film] 1969, the directorial debut of Ernest Thompson, is an aimless drama, its purpose and promise lost in a thicket of false endings and a fog of nostalgia".[3] Janet Maslin of The New York Times described how "Mr. Dern, unusually laconic here, is unexpectedly moving as the character who seems most confused by changing times.[4] Variety said, "Affecting memories and good intentions don't always add up to good screen stories, and such is the case in 1969, one of the murkiest reflections on the Vietnam War era yet, notwithstanding good performances all around and bright packaging of Kiefer Sutherland and Robert Downey Jr. in the leads."[5]

The film was a box office bomb, grossing $5,979,011 [1] against a $37 million budget.

The film's soundtrack consists of original period rock. However, it also includes a notable re-recording of The Youngbloods' classic hit "Get Together", performed as a solo by the Youngbloods' lead singer Jesse Colin Young.

• 1969 at IMDb
• 1969 at AllMovie
• 1969 at the TCM Movie Database
• 1969 at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Sample frames from the cinematographer of 1969