Men Don't Leave
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''Men Don't Leave'' is a 1990 American comedy-drama film starring Jessica Lange as a housewife who, after the death of her husband, moves with her two sons to
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
. Chris O'Donnell, Arliss Howard, Joan Cusack,
Charlie Korsmo Charles Randolph Korsmo (born July 20, 1978) is an American lawyer and actor. He is best known for portraying the Kid from the film adaption of ''Dick Tracy'' and Jack Banning in ''Hook''. Personal life and acting work Korsmo was born in Fargo, ...
and Kathy Bates also co-star in this film. The film, directed by
Paul Brickman Paul Brickman (born April 23, 1949) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for writing and directing ''Risky Business''. Early life Brickman was born in Chicago and raised in suburban Highland Park, the son of Shirley ( ...
and co-written with
Barbara Benedek Barbara Benedek (born 1948) is an American screenwriter best known for co-writing the 1983 film '' The Big Chill'', for which she received a Writers Guild of America Award and several award nominations. Career Benedek was a psychiatric researche ...
, is a remake of the French film '' La Vie Continue''. The original music score was composed by Thomas Newman. Warner Brothers released the film on DVD for the first time on September 15, 2009, as part of the "Warner Archive Collection".


Plot

Weighed down by her late contractor husband's debts in Bingham, Maryland, widowed mother Beth Macauley is compelled to sell her house and move to a less costly locale. She relocates in Baltimore with her sons Chris and Matt and takes a job at a gourmet food store managed by Lisa Coleman. Seventeen-year-old Chris ( Chris O'Donnell) turns angry and aggressive while nine-year-old Matt (
Charlie Korsmo Charles Randolph Korsmo (born July 20, 1978) is an American lawyer and actor. He is best known for portraying the Kid from the film adaption of ''Dick Tracy'' and Jack Banning in ''Hook''. Personal life and acting work Korsmo was born in Fargo, ...
) hides his deep sense of loss under a steely exterior. Beth is drawn into a relationship with Charles Simon, a musician who builds her self-esteem. However, after losing her job, she plunges into a five-day depression during which she refuses to leave her bedroom. Beth is an extremely vulnerable, easily discouraged person who cannot seem to get a grip on her circumstances. Chris falls in love with Jody, an older radiographer who lives in the same building. Matt falls under the influence of a young schoolmate who breaks into houses and steals VCRs. His dream is to get enough money to buy back their suburban house. Beth and her sons eventually pull themselves together, and realize that to abandon each other is not the answer. Beth tells her sons, "Heartbreak is life educating us," and the lessons turn out to be worth learning.


Cast

* Jessica Lange as Beth Macauley * Arliss Howard as Charles Simon * Joan Cusack as Jody * Chris O'Donnell as Chris Macauley * Kathy Bates as Lisa Coleman *
Charlie Korsmo Charles Randolph Korsmo (born July 20, 1978) is an American lawyer and actor. He is best known for portraying the Kid from the film adaption of ''Dick Tracy'' and Jack Banning in ''Hook''. Personal life and acting work Korsmo was born in Fargo, ...
as Matt Macauley * Belita Moreno as Mrs. Buckley *
Deanna Dunagan Deanna Dunagan (born May 25, 1940) is an American actress. While principally active as a stage actress, she has also worked in television and film. She is best known for her Tony Award-winning portrayal of Violet Weston in Tracy Letts' '' Augus ...
as Fay


Reception

The film received generally positive reviews. It has a score of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes based on seventeen reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Shelia Benson Shelia may refer to: *Shelia Burrell (born 1972), retired American heptathlete *Shelia Conover (born 1963), American sprint canoeist *Shelia Eddy (born 1995), American convicted of murder *Shelia Goss (born 1968), American author, freelance writer, ...
of the '' Los Angeles Times'' praised the film as "a tender, beautifully acted, diabolically droll film on the subject of love, loss and the sheer blissful unpredictability of life."
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
said that the film "is the story of how a warm and believable suburban wife and mother becomes a widow who is trapped in a series of Hollywood improbabilities. The movie opens with enormous appeal and then spends its last hour chipping away at the sympathy it has earned. By the end, when some scenes are from the cliche factory and others seem to be missing altogether, I felt a great disappointment: The story started out too strongly to end as such a mess." Janet Maslin of '' The New York Times'' recalled that "among the film's more memorable moments is the scene in which Beth, having collapsed into such depression that she sits in a littered apartment eating cold spaghetti out of a can, is serenaded by her musician friend to the tune of '' Bella Notte,'' the Italian restaurant song from '' Lady and the Tramp.'' Bruce Surtees's cinematography gives the film a warm, vibrant look that's particularly flattering to its star. The editing is so abrupt in spots that it suggests there may have been more to ''Men Don't Leave'' at some earlier stage." Peter Travers of '' Rolling Stone'' said that "Brickman has made an imperfect movie but not an impersonal one. Combining humor and heartbreak with rare grace, ''Men Don’t Leave'' means to get under your skin and does." Lange's performance was praised by critics.


Box office

The film was unsuccessful at the box office, grossing just over $6 million in the US on a $7 million budget.


References


External links

* * * {{rotten-tomatoes, id=men_dont_leave, title=Men Don't Leave 1990 films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American independent films Culture of Baltimore Films shot in Baltimore 1990s feminist films American remakes of French films The Geffen Film Company films Warner Bros. films Films scored by Thomas Newman 1990s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1990 independent films American feminist films Films about mother–son relationships Films about brothers 1990s English-language films 1990s American films