When A Man Loves A Woman

This is the best movie that Luis Mandoki ever made so far!!!He made great movies like <WHITE PALACE> about an upper class young man falling in love with an older woman who works for a restaurant, and <Message in a bottle> a news writer falling in love with a man who sent a message in a bottle and faire passer into the sea to the dead wife. Also his great work about kids suffering from war <INNOCENT VOICES> is great too. This movie is dedicated to his motherland.I didn't even know this movie exist so far and was lucky that I found out from amazon in such a cheap price.I was so surprised watching this film last night how well made this is and so happy after finish watching it!I had a high doubt about Meg Ryan acting as an alcoholic since she is only good at romantic comedy.But I was wrong. The director is a legendary melodrama director Louis Mandoki. He really controlled well with Meg and he did succeeded wonderfully!It was a little (very little) bit cheesy watching the ending but was beautiful and I don't know I can ever forget it.Also the kids are so beautiful and so cute. He is master of controlling the kids as well.They are so adorable. They made the movie more shine especially the first daughter.Andy Carcia was really amazing. I had no doubt about him from the beginning. I first noticed him from the movie <Untouchables>. He was a great actor from the beginning.I hope Louis will make more movie like this in the future and I will looking forward to seeing it soon.PS: I shouldn't forget to mention the original music score. The music was composed by the legendary musician Zbigniew Preisner who worked a lot with the director Krzysztof Kieslowski such as <Double life of Veronuque><Blue><Red><White><Dekalogue>The music boosted the movie and truely made the film even more greater. IT embrased and upheaved the already well made film.

A little slow at times but all-in-all a great story on addiction and recovery.

Just love a must see

One of my favorite movies. Andy is such a hunk in this movie and Meg great performance.

Good movie

The movie expresses an important message about the effects of alcoholism upon the family, while rendering a strong portrayal of the disease as exactly that--a disease. As the narrative plays out, it is difficult not to become engrossed with how passionately, sincerely and genuinely Michael cares about his wife, Alice. His true love for her is apparent in every scene--patiently coping as best he can with the recklessness of her consistent drunkenness. The hard part comes when she returns home after rehab. She's clean, she's sober and she can now clearly see just how destructive her behavior has been upon her marriage and her children. The truth is, she is embarrassed by it and takes it out on Michael. This is why she feels so much more comfortable around her "group" friends than her own husband who is doing everything he possibly can to be a supportive and loving husband. The story shows Alice's resentment towards Michael for not being able to understand her sickness, while she makes no efforts whatsoever to at least meet him halfway and understand the pain, the panic and the utter crisis he has had to endure as a result of her addiction. Alice's behavior sends the unmistakable message to Michael that she needs everybody--except him. She pulls away from his gestures of affection, yet has no problem clinging to the same gestures from her "group" friends, one of which, Gary, whom Michael returns home to find reclining back with his feet up and shoes off, next to Alice in their home. Though Alice attacks Michael's reaction, she is totally out of touch as to just how inappropriate and disrespectful this whole scene with Gary was to her own husband. Step by step, she pulls away. This is deeply hurtful to him considering the layers and layers of sacrifices he has made to hold their family (including her daughter from a previous relationship) from falling apart. Regardless of the intent of the storyline, Michael is the hero of this story, hands down and no other character could portray the lengths ANY husband would go when a man truly loves a woman!

These two actors are awesome! This is my favorite movie 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿!!!!!

Wonderful

Lui e lei si incontrano, s'innamorano, si sposano. Fin qui niente di nuovo sotto il sole, e se lui è Andy Garcia e lei Meg Ryan, qualcuno potrebbe storcere il naso pensando alla solita melensa commedia romantica. Invece no. Perchè lei cade nelle grinfie dell'alcool, sprofondando sempre di più in un abisso di egoismo e indifferenza per la vita, che la porta a mettere a rischio non solo il lavoro di lui e la serenità familiare, ma persino la vita delle figliolette. Ne uscirà, alla fine, ma solo dopo una lotta lunga e difficilissima, senza esclusione di colpi e di insidiose ricadute. Il film ha due grandi pregi: quello di mostrare fin nei particolari più realistici e sgradevoli tutti gli ostacoli e le difficoltà che possono mettere a rischio anche il più solido dei sentimenti, e quello di arrivare ad un lieto-fine non scontato nè tirato per i capelli, come spesso accade ad Hollywood, ma conquistato duramente, a prezzo di sacrifici e rinunce, come accade, quando accade, nella vita reale. Un altro pregio del film, per cui vale davvero la pena di vederlo, è quello di mostrarci finalmente una Meg Ryan vera, intensa, dolorosamente realistica, lontana dalla biondina tutta boccoli e sorrisetti a cui eravamo abituati. Consiglierei questo film ai romantici, e a chiunque stia per compiere il grande passo, non per fargli cambiare idea, ma perchè possa rendersi conto che la felicità di coppia è qualcosa che va coltivata e conquistata giorno dopo giorno, e che il "vissero felici e contenti" non è impossibile, ma non è neppure mai facile.

Wonderful performances from Meg Ryan, Andy Garcia and Tina Majorino who plays the elder child. Furthermore, the music adds so much to the story and the overall enjoyment of what could be construed as a potentially depressing subject. Much of the music is fairly well known but Ricky Lee Jones is less mainstream and I just love 'Stewart's Coat' which plays over the closing credits of the film. This is a good enough reason to purchase the DVD in order to have an undisturbed viewing of the whole film. Why do most Network TV managers allow their staff to ruin the end of so many good films?There are numerous emotional highlights in this film, with the climax being Meg Ryan's emotive acceptance of her situation at her AA Group. OK - the emotional drama is milked a little but this does not detract from the viewers overall enjoyment of the film and the powerful intensity of their relationship.Make no mistake this is a very emotional but uplifting film and one that you will enjoy again and again. I don't think Meg Ryan has ever been this good. If you haven't seen it then there is much to enjoy.

Excellent

Good movie with excellent performances.

Ogni volta che penso a questo film, sale il nodo alla gola. Certo, forse non è un film da Oscar, ma l'argomento e le scene toccano il cuore. Lo consiglio. Fa riflettere sulle nostre capacità di amare, nonostante tutto, e di comunicare.