When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Luis Mandoki

Writers (WGA):

Ronald Bass (written by) &
Al Franken (written by)

Release Date:

13 May 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Through the good times. Through the bad times. When a Man Loves a Woman it's for all times.

Plot:

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. |

Plot Keywords:

Alcoholism | Recovery | Reflection | Yuppie | Sentimental

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Andy Garcia	...	Michael Green
Meg Ryan	...	Alice Green
Ellen Burstyn	...	Emily
Tina Majorino	...	Jessica 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
Bari K. Willerford	...	Malcolm
James Jude Courtney	...	Earl

Also Known As:

Significant Other (USA) (working title)
To Have and to Hold

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Thai

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

When Meg Ryan first hits the booze in the opening scenes, she does so in San Francisco's famous Buena Vista Café in Fisherman's Wharf. It was here that America's first Irish Coffee was first created in 1952.

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

Alice Green: It's horrifying how much you can hate yourself for being low and weak and he couldn't save me from that. So I turned it on him; I tried to empty it onto him. But there was always more, you know. When he tried to help I told him that he made me feel small and worthless...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Frasier: When a Man Loves Two Women (#6.21)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Crazy Love

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.