When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)

An airline pilot and his wife are forced to face the consequences of her alcoholism when her addictions threaten her life and their daughter's safety. While the woman enters detox, her husband must face the truth of his enabling behavior.

Director:

Luis Mandoki

Writers:

Ronald Bass, Al Franken

Stars:

Andy Garcia, Meg Ryan, Ellen Burstyn

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Andy Garcia	...	Michael Green
Meg Ryan	...	Alice Green
Ellen Burstyn	...	Emily
Tina Majorino	...	Jess Green
Mae Whitman	...	Casey Green
Lauren Tom	...	Amy
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Gary
Eugene Roche	...	Walter
Gail Strickland	...	Pam
Steven Brill	...	Madras Tie Guy
Susanna Thompson	...	Janet
Erinn Canavan	...	Shannon
LaTanya Richardson	...	Dr. Gina Mendez (as Latanya Richardson)
Bari K. Willerford	...	Malcolm
James Jude Courtney	...	Earl

Storyline

An airline pilot and his wife are forced to face the consequences of her alcoholism when her addictions threaten her life and their daughter's safety. While the woman enters detox, her husband must face the truth of his enabling behavior.

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Plot Keywords:

airline pilot | alcoholism | detox | addiction | vacation | 

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Taglines:

What Love Built A Secret Could Destroy...

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Vietnamese

Release Date:

13 May 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Significant Other

Filming Locations:

Cancún, Benito Juárez, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Box Office

Gross:

£1,634,249 (UK) (9 September 1994)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was based on ten pages of notes written by Orson Welles.

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Goofs

When Michael takes the bottles out to the trash, a cameraman can be seen slinking past the open doorway of the house.

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Quotes

Alice Green: I drink a quart a day. It's vodka so you couldn't smell it.

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Crazy Credits

As the end credits roll, we see people socializing at an A.A. meeting.

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Connections

Featured in Keeping the Faith (2000)

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Soundtracks

"I'm a Good Man"
Written by Robert Cray and Dennis Walker
Performed by Robert Cray
Courtesy of Mercury Records
By Arrangement with PolyGram Special Markets

User Reviews

an unusual Ryan outing

Normally Meg Ryan is in those annoying fluffy films playing her annoying fluffy character whose one vice is eating too many corn chips or watching too many romantic movies. Here, however, is a film that does show case her considerable acting talent, and her vices are slamming down a bottle of vodka before ten in the morning, slapping her kid around, hoarding prescription pills and harrassing the neighbours. This is an unexpected gem. I also have very personal reasons for loving this film, having watched it with a friend and having to miss the last five minutes to catch a train, then going to watch it all over again on the Champs Elysees in Paris just for the ending, and then watching the other night when it was screened late on tv, in that hour where they bung in movies they don't know what to do with, and was reminded of how good it is. It is the strength of characterisation that works so well, esp the two girls. The hurt of the elder girl when she says that she just wanted to tell her mum she'd done her homework is brilliantly conveyed. That smarting sense of injustice and incomprehension regarding the adult world and its hypocrises gets me every time. Andy Garcia bloody gorgeous too.