When a man loves a woman who's an alcoholic, he's going to get a crash course in the modern American culture of addiction and recovery. So will viewers of this would-be old-fashioned tearjerker, in which much of the drama and romance is drained to make room for plenty of instructional
preaching.
Alice Green (Meg Ryan) drinks a lot, and her husband, Michael (Andy Garcia), accepts it, even though she alternates between being fun and being an irresponsible and worrisome drunk. Only when she gets so drunk that she falls though the glass shower door is Alice ready to admit she's an alcoholic.
While Alice struggles through detox and the beginnings of recovery, Michael struggles at home with their two daughters, eight-year-old Jess (Tina Majorino) and five-year-old Casey (Mae Whitman). After Alice returns home, she and Michael must rebuild their relationship, which isn't as easy as
they'd like.
THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES is a terrific story about an upper middle-class, San Francisco couple caught in the downward slide of alcoholism. Is there equal drama in the portrait of an upper middle-class, San Francisco couple facing the upward climb of recovery? WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN dodges the
question in favor of a glossy, emotional theme park ride--"Recoveryland." Ryan and Garcia give the movie what authenticity it has, but too much time is given to speeches and therapeutic jargon. It's entertaining in a manipulative, TV movie way, but a film that addresses a serious social ill begs
to be held to a higher standard. leave a comment
