I have been waiting for this Gem to come out on DVD since the 90s and finally it's here. It's available only through Warner Bros. Archive Collection at $17.99 plus tax & shipping and unfortunately it is a bare-bones DVD with NO Extra Features. It was worth it to me as this film is so great. I agree with the bulk of the reviews here that: the acting is superior and riveting, the script and dialog are spot on, Paul Brickman (Risky Business) co-wrote and directed with aplomb. The story takes us through so many emotions but in the end we are rewarded for "taking the ride." Jessica Lange is always good but this is one of her finest performances. Arliss Howard is an unlikely "hero" and Chris O'Donnell and Charlie Korsmo are perfect as Lange's sons. The always quirky but dependable Joan Cusack is excellent as a care-giver nurse. Kathy Bates has a small role as Lange's boss and as always she makes the most of her performance. This is a very moving, emotional film and one of the Best of the 90s films.

You know the line "You had me at Hello"? Well, this movie had me at "The Geffen Company Presents..." There's just something so endearing about this quirky comedy. Sorry for the clichés, but I think just about everyone could find something about themselves in this story, even if they've never experienced depression. Some of my favorite movies mix comedy and drama, and this is a prime example (slightly more on the comedic side, but it's debatable). I also thought this was my first exposure to Kathy Bates, but I didn't realize until much later that I had already seen her in "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean" and in a bit part in "Two of a Kind". She's a chameleon; I still didn't recognize her 11 months later in "Misery." Cusack has an even better chance to shine. And as for Lange, for someone playing a character so weary, she's luminous. There's also an appearance by a woman who was semi-famous as a quirky waitress in Miracle Whip commercials ("How'd they know turquoise was mah color?") in this. She hilariously plays a musician here. But the real find was Charlie Korsmo (also in "Dick Tracy" later the same year), eleven years old at the time of filming but looking younger. Like Shirley Temple, I know he's an adult now, but I don't want to see him grown up. His performance is the heart and soul of "Men Don't Leave." I don't own a copy of it, because I'm afraid I might watch it every day. You either love it or you don't get it.

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.

This movie is carried by a great ensemble cast that gets better with repeated viewings. Jessica Lange and Joan Cusack and Kathy Bates are strong by first viewing. But you kind of get used to bratty Chris O'Donnel by second or third viewing. At least closer than any of his other lame performances. Oh and other guys are strong enough to compete with the women like Arliss Howard whose just fabulous with the likability quotient. Yeah, yeah it's predictable, there's no denying that. And the third act is probably the worst part of the movie, but the dialogue and acting is great and real sneaky at making you laugh and wince at the parts that seem like their set up to press the audience's buttons for hanky-grabbing at JUST the right second. But it's forgiven, merely because it isn't schmaltzy or cheesy, but a surprisingly good sleeper of a movie. Oh, but the similar ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE is better in my opinion. Though I'll follow Jessica Lange (why does she always have fingers over her lips?) over Ellen Burstyn any day of the week.