Alice played by Meg Ryan and Michael, played by Andy Garcia are a couple very much in love. They have two little girls, one of them being from Alice's first marriage, He is an airline pilot and she works in a school. Gradually she becomes less reliable, not returning from work right away but going for a drink with friends. He starts having to cancel flights because she is nowhere to be found and he can not leave the children alone. Soon he starts noticing that she does not drink moderately when they go out together, she gets drunk. He initially accept all the standard excuses, I lost track of time, I drink because I'm too stressed, etc...He takes her on a trip, believing that time away from her job and the children will help relieve the stress and reduce her alcohol consumption. But, naturally that does not work. She starts hiding alcohol bottles but is caught drinking in front of her daughter. Things escalate and she is rush to the hospiltal when she passes out in the bathroom and is found by her oldest daughter. She is placed in a rehab centre while he has to manage his job and the children. He has to arrange his schedule with the nanny and being ovewhelm he starts arguing with her until she literally walks out on him. He makes every effort to understand what Alice is going through but she starts pushing him away and tensions mount. When she returns from rehab, she feels more comfortable with the people who went through the same program as her then with him. Since he has been around and taking care of the children, they differ to him for permission to do various things. She comes to resent it. At some point, he feels that they may have irreconcilable differences and decides to leave her. The children are in tears as they love him very much and so does he.
Does he come back....you will need to watch the movie. If you love tear jerkers, you will love this movie.