When a Man Loves a Woman

Michael Green (Andy Garcia) and his wife, Alice (Meg Ryan) are living the good life in San Francisco. They are both professionals, they live in a lovely home, and they have two beautiful daughters (Tina Majorino and Mae Whitman). But, they also have a secret. Alice is a "closet" alcoholic, who is on the verge of showing it to the world and Michael is doing his best to cover for her to everyone. Things are complicated, for Alice seems happier when she is in the "party mood" and Michael loves her so much that he actually appears to relish his role as the one Alice calls on to put herself back together. Yet, even a vacation to Mexico does not help Alice find the self-happiness she needs to lose the bottle. Also, Alice injures herself at home, scaring the girls beyond measure and they are suffering from neglect, too. Therefore, Alice has to enter a "Betty Ford" type clinic. But, will Michael and Alice both like and love each other when Alice is sober? This is a great movie for its honest portrayal of the effects an alcoholic has on the family he or she loves and on the long climb out of the world of alcoholism. Alice and Michael are not really living the American dream but the American nightmare, because of Alice's need for one drink after another. Both Ryan and Garcia are truly wonderful in roles that call upon them to be both lovable and repugnant, at the same time. The other cast members, including Ellen Burstyn and the two lovely little girl-actresses, are also just perfect. Naturally, the settings in San Fran and Mexico are great, especially the Green's beautiful old house. Costumes, too, are very well-chosen and all other other productions values of direction, photography and story are most worthy, too. Then, too, the film also has great value as a movie to show the realities of alcoholism to any audience that could benefit from such a view. In summary, if you are a man or woman who loves movies that tell a tale well, with gorgeous stars, even if it might result in a few shed tears, this is a great choice. You might even pop it in when you need a "good cry", for it has wonderful cathartic elements.

This movie has me in tears throughout; it portrays the mixed

feelings, emotions and total confusion of an alcoholic wife and

mother so perfectly - and I should recognize them, as an alcoholic

of 10 years myself. Especially moving is the wonderful

performance of the elder child "Jessie" - an amazing achievement

in one so young. It certainly strengthened my resolve never to go

down that path again. I recommend it to all families of alcoholics

for an insight into our way of thinking - our shame, our inability to

control our own addiction, and the possibilty of real recovery.

Thank you, all involved.

I first saw this movie in the theater when it came out. I remember feeling frustrated. I watched it again last night on satellite and decided this really is a great movie, but it is hard to watch. It is a very real love story, but don't confuse that as meaning it is a typical romantic story.

Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia play a couple definitely in love, but struggling with their relationship after Meg Ryan's character comes back from detox. Instead of being cured, she is confused and they realize there is a wedge that comes from an experience they can't share. She has AA friends that her husband can't relate to, but she needs someone who can understand and her husband isn't it.

One mark of great writing is when the characters are not saintly or demonic, but shades of grey. Andy Garcia's character is a really nice guy, but he's not saintly. He resorts to sarcasm out of his frustration in not being able to help his wife. Of course, she doesn't want his help, she wants his understanding. She is basically a good person, but she can't sort through her feelings and ends up being unknowingly cruel to her husband.

After one scene, my wife stated, "Now HE frustrated me". I said, "I was frustrated too, but BY HER". This movie really pegs male and female relationships.

Superbly written, superbly acted. It hurts to watch it, but a movie that can evoke real emotion and not pander to the audience with contrived plot lines is a great movie. THIS is a great movie.

Normally Meg Ryan is in those annoying fluffy films playing her annoying fluffy character whose one vice is eating too many corn chips or watching too many romantic movies. Here, however, is a film that does show case her considerable acting talent, and her vices are slamming down a bottle of vodka before ten in the morning, slapping her kid around, hoarding prescription pills and harrassing the neighbours. This is an unexpected gem. I also have very personal reasons for loving this film, having watched it with a friend and having to miss the last five minutes to catch a train, then going to watch it all over again on the Champs Elysees in Paris just for the ending, and then watching the other night when it was screened late on tv, in that hour where they bung in movies they don't know what to do with, and was reminded of how good it is. It is the strength of characterisation that works so well, esp the two girls. The hurt of the elder girl when she says that she just wanted to tell her mum she'd done her homework is brilliantly conveyed. That smarting sense of injustice and incomprehension regarding the adult world and its hypocrises gets me every time. Andy Garcia bloody gorgeous too.

When first renting this film, I expected to see a typical love story. I found, instead, a film that truly attempted to accurately display what happens in relationships where one member has a drinking problem. It is powerful and shows the true pain and confusing that often looms over these situations. Rather than sending Alex to detox and having her come home happy, she came home very confused about life and what she was doing. This is one of the many ways this film reflects true life. My only qualm is the ending. Rather than keeping true to the story, the filmmakers seemed to give up and ended it on a happy, superficial note. Despite this letdown, I love this film and everything it tries to communicate.

Meg Ryan's performance is one of the underrated of the decade. She should have received on Oscar nomination for it and was certainly better than Jessica Lange that year. I have read a few comments here saying she did a terrible job. I would ask these people to define what a good performance is to them. Not only did Ryan communicate every possible feeling that a woman in Alex's situation could have, she did it with style and ease. Not only that, but made a dramatic move with this film from her already great performances in romantic comedy. Ryan should be applauded for taking such a huge risk and having it pay off.

Andy Garcia also has a tremendous performance in this film. He too displays very complex emotions of a faulted man with skill.

The one aspect of this film that I love so much is how no character is faultless in the whole situation. All members have contributed to the problem, and all must face up to what they did and try to improve what they have. I don't know if this makes much sense (I feel my thoughts are jumbled). In one simple statement: SEE THIS MOVIE. THE TITLE DOES NOT ACCURATELY DISPLAY THE MOVIE IT TRULY IS. The title makes it sound like another sappy love story. What the viewer gets is a tremendous study of the damage alcoholism can bring to a family.