Men Don't Leave is a 1990

1990 in film

The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....

 comedy-drama

Comedy-drama

Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...

 film that stars Jessica Lange

Jessica Lange

Jessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. The recipient of several awards, including two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and one Emmy, Lange is regarded as one of the première female actors of her generation.Lange was discovered by producer...

 as a housewife who, after the death of her husband, moves with her two sons to Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

. Chris O'Donnell

Chris O'Donnell

Christopher Eugene "Chris" O'Donnell is an American actor. He has played Robin in two Batman films, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, Charlie Simms in Scent of a Woman, Finn Dandridge in Grey's Anatomy, Peter Garrett in Vertical Limit, and more recently, Jack McAuliffe in The Company. O'Donnell...

, Joan Cusack

Joan Cusack

Joan Mary Cusack is an American film, stage and television actress. Throughout her career, Cusack has appeared in many films as well as appearing in stage productions....

, and Kathy Bates

Kathy Bates

Kathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates is an American actress and director.After several small roles in film and television, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery , for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe...

 also co-star in this film.

The film, directed by Paul Brickman

Paul Brickman

Paul Brickman is an American screenwriter and film director, born in Chicago, Illinois. He is best known for the film Risky Business where he served as director and screenwriter...

 and co-written with Barbara Benedek, is a remake of the French film La Vie Continue. The original music score was composed by Thomas Newman

Thomas Newman

Thomas Montgomery Newman is an American composer and conductor, best known for his many film scores. He is one of the more respected and recognized composers for modern film and has scored over fifty feature films in a career which spans nearly three decades.Newman has received a total of ten...

. Warner Brothers released the film on DVD for the first time on September 15, 2009, as part of the "Warner Archive Collection".

Plot summary

Weighed down by her late contractor husband's debts in Bingham, Maryland, widowed mother Beth Macauley is compelled to sell her house and move to a less costly locale. She relocates in Baltimore with her sons Chris and Matt and takes a job at a ramshackle gourmet food store managed by Lisa Coleman. 17-year-old Chris turns angry and aggressive while 9-year-old Matt hides his deep sense of loss under a steely exterior. Beth is drawn into a relationship with Charles Simon, a musician who builds her self-esteem. However, after losing her job, she plunges into a five-day depression during which she refuses to leave her bedroom.

Beth is an extremely vulnerable, easily discouraged person who cannot seem to get a grip on her circumstances. Chris falls in love with Jody, an older nurse who lives in the same building. Matt falls under the influence of a young schoolmate who breaks into houses and steals VCRs. His dream is to get enough money to buy back their suburban house. She and her sons eventually pull themselves together, despite many side trips with wrong lovers and false friends. It's only a matter of time until the Macauleys realize that to abandon each other is not the answer. Beth tells her sons, "Heartbreak is life educating us," and the lessons turn out to be worth learning.

Main cast

Actor	Role
Jessica Lange Jessica Lange Jessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. The recipient of several awards, including two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and one Emmy, Lange is regarded as one of the première female actors of her generation.Lange was discovered by producer...	Beth Macauley
Arliss Howard Arliss Howard Arliss Howard is an American actor, writer and film director.-Life and career:Howard was born in Independence, Missouri in 1954, and graduated from Truman High School and Columbia College at Columbia, Missouri. Howard established his career with stand-out roles in Full Metal Jacket and Ruby...	Charles Simon
Joan Cusack Joan Cusack Joan Mary Cusack is an American film, stage and television actress. Throughout her career, Cusack has appeared in many films as well as appearing in stage productions....	Jody
Chris O'Donnell Chris O'Donnell Christopher Eugene "Chris" O'Donnell is an American actor. He has played Robin in two Batman films, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, Charlie Simms in Scent of a Woman, Finn Dandridge in Grey's Anatomy, Peter Garrett in Vertical Limit, and more recently, Jack McAuliffe in The Company. O'Donnell...	Chris Macauley
Kathy Bates Kathy Bates Kathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates is an American actress and director.After several small roles in film and television, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery , for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe...	Lisa Coleman
Charlie Korsmo Charlie Korsmo Charles Randolph "Charlie" Korsmo is an American former child actor turned lawyer and political activist.Korsmo was born in Fargo, North Dakota, the son of Deborah Ruf, an educational psychologist, and John Korsmo, a hospital administrator and chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board...	Matt Macauley
Belita Moreno	Mrs. Buckley