Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Dreadfully Boring

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Released in early 1990 and directed by Paul Brickman, "Men Don't Leave" is a drama with comedic elements about a mother (Jessica Lange) and two sons who lose their husband/father and must move to Baltimore to make it and overcome their grief. Chris O'Donnell plays the teenage son while Joan Cusack appears as his older girlfriend, an x-ray technician. Arliss Howard is on hand as a potential beau for the mother, a musician. Kathy Bates plays her new boss, the manager of a gourmet bakery.This movie's tragic, odd, dramatic, funny and inspirational, just like life. It respects the intelligence of the viewer as everything's not always spelled out. Roger Ebert complained about the predictability of the mother's meet-cute with the musician, which may be true, but he overlooked the many UNpredictable and offbeat elements of the movie, like the teen's relationship with the medical technician and her interesting relationship arc with the mother. He also complained about the film's depiction of clinical depression and its supposedly trite antidote, but – speaking as someone who suffered severe depression in the past; and overcame it without "meds" – this simply isn't true. Both the depiction and the remedy are real-to-life; the portrayal is sad with some realistic humor and inspiration thrown into the mix. What did he want? Her to take a pill and everything would be hunky-dory? The best thing for a person who's suffering depression is to get them out of the darkness of the bedroom and into the light of day; get them talking; give them something active to DO; and help them set some realistic goals that they can immediately start working toward, not to mention encourage some close, positive relationships, and discourage negative ones. The movie effectively shows this. The film runs 115 minutes and was shot in Baltimore, Maryland, and Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor, Illinois.GRADE: B-

When I rented this movie about ten years ago, the only reason I got it was because I knew Jessica Lange was in it and she had been in so many good movies before that one. What a likable movie! I think the reason why someone would like this movie so much is because so many of the scenes in it you could really see happening. Watching this movie you realize how contrived and unrealistic most movies about "real life" are, which just made "Men Don't Leave" seem that much more offbeat and quirky.I love the part where Jessica Lange is so bored out of her mind that she starts chucking "Beth-cakes" out the window of their high-rise apartment just to have something interesting to do. The scenes with Joan Cusack (as a nurse (?) who just wants to "help people" whether they want her to or not) are great; as well as Arliss Howard as an untimely boyfriend Beth (Jessica Lange) is not quite sure what to do with. The ending of this movie was done just right, where it could have been easily done in a sappy and everything unrealistically happy way; the music was perfect too: haunting but with a sense of hope about it. Ultimately I think this movie is about the power of the human spirit to survive devastating life events and come out the other side, not quite the same as before but still able to go on and even thrive.

Ho-hum. Another "what's a housewife to do after she's left on her own" flick. You have your helpless mother, your surly teenager, and your depressed little kid. Enter Joan Cusack and Arliss Howard with two fine performances (I especially liked the accordian sequence)and the film comes alive. However, I sensed no real rapport between Lange and Howard. In fact, Lange seemed to have walked through her role as an after-thought.

"Men Don't Leave" is a bittersweet light drama with the emphasis on sweet and light. This slice-of-life Hollywood melodrama is a Lang tour-de-force which tells of a window's struggle to get her life back on track after the death of her husband. On the upside, the film has a kind of freshness to it even though it walks it the footsteps of some very ordinary weepers. On the downside, it's obvious, predictable, and a typical Hollywood commercial product. An enjoyable watch, particularly for Lang fans, but best saved for broadcast.