Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

ehughes411 I saw this movie at the theater and fell in love with it on the spot. It is authentic and honest and heartfelt. It is one of the best movies about the grief journey I have seen. It manages to give background and flavor to each of the characters who spend time on the screen, a feat which is unusual in film. Kathy Bates performance is skillful, helping the audience understand an unsympathetic character. Jessica Lange, Arliss Howard and the child actors are understated. A lovely, heartfelt package. The movies' score and cinematography add to every shot and scene. To this day, I still hum some of the score and when I hear "Bella Notte", I remember Arliss Howard's serenade to Beth through the apartment door. See this film. See it and love it.

Blooeyz2001 I like this film. Jessica Lange is very good as a wife/mom of two sons. She abruptly finds herself a widow after her husband dies in a work related accident. This is a woman who is used to having a partner to help deal with family life & issues & suddenly everything is on her shoulders. She's deep in debt & overwhelmed. (The adorable) Chris O'Donnell is great as the older boy, playing a typical bratty teenager arguing with Lange over choices & decisions she must now make. He's very convincing in a scene with Arliss Howard, later in the film, that shows just how much his mom means to him. Charlie Korsmo is the younger, more agreeable boy. Yet he's filled with many issues, underneath the surface, dealing with his dad's death & their relocation to Baltimore. He takes to a new buddy's home life because he misses the conventional family he was used to, much to Lange's dismay as she tries desperately to keep her family together. Joan Cusack plays a quirky, domineering neighbor & "older woman" interested in O'Donnell. A leaner than usual Kathy Bates (almost unrecognizable because she's all farpitzed with makeup, trendy clothes & hairstyle) plays Lange's bitchy, bitter boss when she must now enter the workplace. Arliss Howard is also on hand as a love interest for Lange. Not that much emphasis is placed on their relationship because the main focus of the film is on Lange & her son's. Now for that title. IMO it can be taken two ways, as a plea or a statement. "Men Don't Leave" because you're family needs you, or "Men Don't Leave" a family's mind's & hearts after they've gone.

moonspinner55 Widow with two growing sons must become her family's breadwinner, keeping everyone's spirits up while dating again for the first time in many years. It doesn't surprise me that people have to see this picture twice or more to get into the movie's grooves. The handling is very focused, the writing gets us from A to Z smoothly enough, but the tone of "Men Don't Leave" is quirky, to say the least. Sometimes I wasn't sure whether to laugh or not. At times it seems to go overboard, other times it hits a perfect note yet doesn't follow through. Still, the overall effect of this movie is genuinely pleasurable. It's not a big, chancy movie with issues, it's quiet and small and heartfelt. There are little scenes of emotion that well up into big hurts (and disappointments like the lottery family that just KILL us), and all the acting is so wonderful, particularly Jessica Lange (a shaky tower of strength). I loved it when the German woman gets Jessica to dance, or when she gets a nosebleed while kissing Arliss Howard for the first time, or throwing all her muffins out the window while feigning basketball moves. And what about Kathy Bates as the boss from Hell? It's an erratic film (with a puzzling title), yet I admired it greatly, and it has stuck with me over all these years. ***1/2 from ****

lizeroo This is my absolute favorite movie. The quiet story of a young widow coping with the loss of her husband and a move to the big city is tender, humorous and hopeful. Fine performances by Jessica Lange, Chris O'Donnell (in his first screen role), Kathy Bates, Arliss Howard and Joan Cusack round out this film. Casting is perfect in every sense and the emotion of the movie is carried well by a haunting score. One of my favorite scenes has Lange arriving unannounced at Howard's home. Her sadness is palpable and his gift - a trip to the Polka hall, where she loses herself in a wild dance with a waitress, while he sits in with the band - is moving. There is such a sense of hope, generosity and goodness in this movie. It is not at all maudlin, or contrived. Just a wonderful exploration of the darkness of grief and unwelcome change, and the love and support sometimes found in unexpected places. There are also great comedic moments, chiefly involving O'Donnell and Cusack. See this movie!