When a Man Loves a Woman (film)

Alice Green (Meg Ryan) is a school counselor who has a serious drinking problem and is married to Michael (Andy García), an airline pilot. Though she is lighthearted and loving, Alice is often reckless and, when drunk, even neglects her children: nine-year-old Jess (Tina Majorino) from a previous marriage, and four-year-old Casey (Mae Whitman), whose father is Michael.

One afternoon, Alice enters their home in a drunken incoherent state. She dismisses the reluctant babysitter Amy (Lauren Tom), who leaves her alone with her children. Still drinking, Alice is confronted by Jess, who is concerned for her welfare. In return, she slaps Jess, who runs to her room in tears. While in the shower, Alice retches, calls for Jess, and is unable to control her balance, which causes her to fall through the shower door onto the bathroom floor and lose consciousness. Fearing Alice has died, Jess contacts Michael who immediately flies home to be by Alice's side.

In the hospital, Michael and Alice confront the truth about Alice's drinking. They both decide that she must seek professional help for her alcoholism. Upon release from the hospital, a timid Alice enters a rehabilitation clinic.

Michael finds himself now the main caregiver of their home and children, a role he struggles to maintain along with his career as an airline pilot, as well as fighting with Amy and driving her out of the house. Meanwhile, at the clinic, Alice is flourishing; her recovery is painful, but stabilizing, and she is well-liked and respected by both staff and fellow clinic tenants alike. During a family visit day at the clinic, Alice immediately begins to rebuild her shattered bond with the children, leaving Michael alone to wander the grounds uncomfortable and out of place in Alice's new lifestyle.

Alice returns home sober yet guarded – she is vocal, strong, and changed. Michael is having trouble adjusting to Alice's post-treatment aloofness, distant and cold behavior towards him. He has become used to being the stable and responsible one in their relationship and appropriately feels neglected by Alice's newly established and highly prioritized outside friendships. She resents the fact that Michael seems to be out of touch with her ability to cope at home, yet whenever he expresses his love and concern--which shines throughout the entire film--she shuts him out, repeatedly. Coming to terms with their estrangement, a reluctant Michael, believing therapy is for the weak, and a willing Alice see a marriage counselor, who rather unjustly establishes Michael's "codependency" on Alice's role as an alcoholic without ever encouraging Alice to see Michael's side.

Unable to find a medium and with tempers flared, Michael moves out after Alice confesses that Michael's clearly genuine desire to be a supportive husband "makes her skin crawl." Alice becomes the main caregiver of their home and children. Michael is unable to process the tension Alice's alcoholism has brought into their marriage, seeks out a support group for spouses of alcoholics. Initially shy, Michael becomes a more vocal member of the group and shares his sorrow over his lack of understanding for the gravity his wife's sobriety would have on him, his children, and his marriage.

Alice and Michael singularly return to the hospital to celebrate the birth of Amy's baby. They spend time together and as they depart, Alice asks Michael if he would attend her 180-day sober speech where she will acknowledge her failings and accomplishments. She also tells him that she has been thinking about asking him to come home with her. Michael tells Alice he has been offered a job in Denver. For the first time since they both agreed Alice should enter rehab, they both agree Michael should take the position.

The penultimate scene is Alice as she stands on a stage and tells her sobriety story; the toll it took on her, her children, and her marriage. Her audience is moved to tears. Her speech ends and she is surrounded by well-wishers. Out of the crowd appears Michael. At ease with himself and Alice, he explains what he missed along the way..."to listen, to really listen." They share an intense, longing, passionate kiss.

• Meg Ryan as Alice Green
• Andy García as Michael Green
• Lauren Tom as Amy
• Philip Seymour Hoffman as Gary
• Tina Majorino as Jess Green
• Mae Whitman as Casey Green
• Ellen Burstyn as Emily

Tom Hanks was considered for Garcia's role and Michelle Pfeiffer and Debra Winger were considered for Ryan's role.[1]

The film debuted at number two behind The Crow.[2] It currently holds a 70% fresh rating among critics at Rotten Tomatoes from 23 reviews. The site's consensus states: "When a Man Loves a Woman delves into the complex dynamics of a marriage shadowed by addiction, aided by strong performances from Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan."[3] However, it has a mixed reception and is seen unfavorably by many because of its length and the way it deals with alcoholism and stress in the family.[4][5]

James Berardinelli stated that the "ending is too facile", and that the film took "longer than necessary to arrive at its resolution", adding that there are moments in it where the script would strike a raw nerve with certain people because of how it judges alcoholics and deals with issues related to alcoholism.[5] However, he said that the "film's poignancy is its strength, even if occasional didactic tendencies are its weakness". David Denby of New York Magazine called it an "earnest and highly prolonged counseling disappointment", a "pushy therapeutic exercise" which, although intelligent, features "endless talk, a stunted mise en scène, and a moral atmosphere of dogged and literal-minded persistence" which "overvalues its own sobriety".[4] Roger Ebert, himself a recovering alcoholic, gave it four out of four stars, praising its artistic qualities just in passing (“I couldn't find a false note in Ryan's performance - and only one in Garcia's …”) but spending more time on its description of the role of the family enablers in development of alcoholism.[6]

• "The second 10" (not ranked) – Sean P. Means, The Salt Lake Tribune[7]
• Honorable mention – Duane Dudek, Milwaukee Sentinel[8]
• Honorable mention – William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer[9]

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