Les hommes de ma vie

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.

A true sleeper; a heartfelt drama with an odd title that isn't really 'about' any one thing, but ends up more truthful about life than most higher-profile Hollywood product.

It's a movie that's rather slow and low-key, but stick with it. There are many wonderful moments along the way, both funny and poignant, conveyed with remarkable verisimilitude by a skilled cast. We've grown accustomed to the excellence of Jessica Lange, convincing here as a recent widow trying to make a new life for herself and her boys, but she's ably supported by Arliss Howard, Joan Cusack, and especially Chris O'Donnell and Charlie Korsmo, who play her sons.

Director Paul Brickman hasn't made many films but this is surely his best; he also collaborated on its quietly-observed, slice-of life script with Barbara Benedek (THE BIG CHILL). Thomas Newman's spare, haunting score reveals why he's one of the finest film composers working today.

Also, despite other user comments, this is not a 'tearjerker.' MEN DON'T LEAVE comes by its emotional impact honestly, with restraint and subtlety. Other filmmakers could learn a thing or two from Lange, Brickman et al. Highly recommended.

Breadwinning husband and father dies and leaves wife and two sons nearly broke and homeless. Jessica Lange has never been better than here as Beth Macauly, a woman who is almost driven to insanity in the chaotic aftermath of her husbands death. Its not completely dark, though...there is quite a bit of humor as the family tries to adjust to the new environment and people that touch their lives. This film is one of the few model examples of all main characters performing the tasks they were assigned perfectly. Excellent acting through and through.

This film is certainly an exception. A remake from the French version "Hot Air Balloon", this film has many noteworthy aspects to it, including the excellent cast of Arliss Howard, Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Lange's troubled son Chris O'Donnell.

Primarily Lange is a widower who has to sell her house and start over. She moves to a small apartment in Baltimore with her two children, who are not happy about it. She eventually finds work (there are some amusing scenes) for a catering company, owned by Kathy Bates (always a memorable character, in this case the tyrannical boss).

Joan Cusack also adds humor to the latter half, having met O'Donnell, she starts dating him, Lange at first over-protective, then gradually becomes friends with Cusack. Cusack, as a therapeutic gesture, takes her on a hot air balloon. A seemingly silly gesture, but a metaphor for starting over. Well-done and never depressing, an excellent film worth viewing. 9/10.

Widow with two growing sons must become her family's breadwinner, keeping everyone's spirits up while dating again for the first time in many years. It doesn't surprise me that people have to see this picture twice or more to get into the movie's grooves. The handling is very focused, the writing gets us from A to Z smoothly enough, but the tone of "Men Don't Leave" is quirky, to say the least. Sometimes I wasn't sure whether to laugh or not. At times it seems to go overboard, other times it hits a perfect note yet doesn't follow through. Still, the overall effect of this movie is genuinely pleasurable. It's not a big, chancy movie with issues, it's quiet and small and heartfelt. There are little scenes of emotion that well up into big hurts (and disappointments like the lottery family that just KILL us), and all the acting is so wonderful, particularly Jessica Lange (a shaky tower of strength). I loved it when the German woman gets Jessica to dance, or when she gets a nosebleed while kissing Arliss Howard for the first time, or throwing all her muffins out the window while feigning basketball moves. And what about Kathy Bates as the boss from Hell? It's an erratic film (with a puzzling title), yet I admired it greatly, and it has stuck with me over all these years. ***1/2 from ****