Men Don't Leave
Released January 1989
Starring Jessica Lange (as Beth Macauley), Chris O'Donnell, Charlie Korsmo, Joan Cusack, Arliss Howard, Kathy Bates
Directed by Paul Brickman
115 min.Box Office gross - $6.0 million
See complete credits at Internet Movie Database
This overlooked gem is one of Lange's finest films and it is a shame that it was not promoted heavier when it was released. Directed by Paul Brickman (Risky Business), it is loosely based on the 1981 French film La via continue. The plot concerns a young woman whose husband is killed in an accident and she finds that she must raise her two sons on her own. She sells the family home and moves to Baltimore to start over again, but instead lapses into a deep depression.
It sounds like a downer and it does have some sad moments (and yes, it is a tearjerker) but Men Don't Leave is also a very funny film. The performances are all outstanding - Charlie Korsmo and Chris O'Donnell (in his debut performance) play the sons with a searing honesty and Joan Cusack almost steals the show as a wacky neighbor who plays girlfriend to O'Donnell and mother to Lange. Kathy Bates is also great as Lange's caustic boss. This is a beautifully balanced comedy/drama and a great film.
Critical Sampling:
"Nobody else in the movies is as skilled as Lange at expressing the tangle of emotions behind the silences and shy awkwardness of a character such as Beth. This is painful, moving material and Lange doesn't censor or tidy up Beth's imperfections or her impulse to crawl in a hole. She gives them to you straight, contradictions and all. ." - Hal Hinson, Washington Post
"Throughout, Lange turns herself into a mess. She looks frumpy, scowls, nags. She in fact creates such a complete character -- a woman totally overwhelmed -- that it almost doesn't matter what's happening on the periphery..." - Ralph Novak, People