You won't be disappointed!

Sadly Over-hyped

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It usually takes me two viewings of a film to decide whether I think it is a great film. The second that "Men Don't Leave" ended I knew it was a great film. It tells the story of a middle aged woman (Jessica Lange) who moves her two sons to Baltimore following the death of her husband. There she meets a quirky musician (Arliss Howard) and her older son starts dating an equally quirky x-ray technician (Joan Cusack). This film is by turns joyful and heartbreakingly sad and features sure-handed direction by Paul Brickman and a beautiful score by Thomas Newman who also scored "American Beauty". The performances are wonderful, most notably Jessica Lange's and Joan Cusack's. If you're looking for a wonderful family drama with comedic moments then "Men Don't Leave" is for you. One of the best films of the 1990's.

Widower Jessica Lange must move from the suburbs to the city (with her two sons) and learn how to make it on her own. Familiar story is very well-done. The acting is very good--Jessica Lange gives another great performance; Arliss Howard does a nice turn as a man who's attracted to her; Joan Cusack is uproarious as a very strange neighbor. The biggest surprise is how good Chris O'Donnell is. He's now considered one of the blandest (and lousy) actors out there...back in 1990 though, he was very good. His face actually changes expression and he's excellent in one scene where he tries to apologize to Howard. The film is very well-written--characters talk and act believably. Beautiful direction with an excellent music score too. My only complaint is the film is a little bit too long and there are very obvious cuts in scenes (I'm assuming to keep the running time down). Still, that's a minor complaint. Also, it's very moving and tear-jerking at the end. Well worth catching.

Pulls out most of the stops in going for the pathos. Young (and beautiful) wife and mother--Lange--tries to hold herself and her family together after the tragic death of her husband. She falls apart but is saved through the redeeming power of love shown by those around her.Supporting cast is wonderful.

This movie is carried by a great ensemble cast that gets better with repeated viewings. Jessica Lange and Joan Cusack and Kathy Bates are strong by first viewing. But you kind of get used to bratty Chris O'Donnel by second or third viewing. At least closer than any of his other lame performances. Oh and other guys are strong enough to compete with the women like Arliss Howard whose just fabulous with the likability quotient. Yeah, yeah it's predictable, there's no denying that. And the third act is probably the worst part of the movie, but the dialogue and acting is great and real sneaky at making you laugh and wince at the parts that seem like their set up to press the audience's buttons for hanky-grabbing at JUST the right second. But it's forgiven, merely because it isn't schmaltzy or cheesy, but a surprisingly good sleeper of a movie. Oh, but the similar ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE is better in my opinion. Though I'll follow Jessica Lange (why does she always have fingers over her lips?) over Ellen Burstyn any day of the week.