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Intolerable Cruelty (Widescreen Edition) Customer Reviews (37 - 39 of 74 Reviews)

Is Diner Food Really That Bad?
Miles Massey (George Clooney) is a ruthless divorce lawyer and Marilyn Rexroth (Catherine Zeta Jones) is an equally ruthless gold-digging wife in this Coen Brothers take on the screwball comedy genre. The film takes place in a slick, shiny and heartless Los Angeles-it's a place with no sympathy for losers. In the old thirties' comedies, there was always an element of humorous class confrontation that gave the films an edge-there's not enough of it here. And if we knew a little bit why Miles and Marilyn were so driven (Miles seems to have a father problem, but we never really learn anything about Marilyn), it could put their behavior into perspective.

The inclusion of an African-American detective is interesting, but he's of so little value to Miles that Miles meets him for lunch in a dingy diner instead of one of the glossier restaurants we see in the film. The diner, usually a place of populist wisdom in American films (and a handy cinematic counterpoint to the empty values of the wealthy characters), is dismissed and ridiculed in this film. It's too bad, because the lumpy patrons of the diner are also surrogates for the ordinary people in the audience. If Miles had met the detective in an upscale restaurant that would have told us something about his inborn decency despite his privileged background-then we would have really been on his side. And if we'd been given an inkling of why Marilyn is so money-hungry, we might have more sympathy for her. This film lacks the underlying empathy for ordinary people that the great screwball comedies had beneath their slick facades. This empathy is in the other Coen films, so it's disappointing not to see it here.

Fluffy and Disposable
Last fall, the Coen Brothers had an unexpected bomb with "Intolerable Cruelty." It seemed perfect - a zany comedy pairing George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones as two enemies who fall in love - but audiences didn't respond, thus the quick release to the home market.

I thought this was a delightful film. Much of the fun comes from the fact that it's a very, very silly story, and much of the humor comes from the cast embracing how silly it is. George Clooney, in particular, makes a great modern-day Cary Grant, dropping pithy comebacks while flashing a grin. It's brain candy, sure, but the very best kind.

The picture quality reflects the colorful, bright nature of the film; unfortunately, the DVD extras aren't so peppy. There are two short, typical featurettes, cast biographies, and outtakes. The Clooney and Zeta-Jones outtakes are quite funny, but two minutes of silent railroad footage are not.

Overall, I'm not sure this is really worth your purchase. It's much more viable as a single, fun viewing on a rainy evening.

You Fascinate Me
Intolerable Cruelty is no doubt one of the Coen Brothers most commercial and light-hearted films to date. Yet it doesn't let you down with it's scintillating witty dialogue and ingeniously funny plot. George Clooney plays Miles Massey, a divorce lawyer at the height of his powers with immaculately white teeth which he endless checks. Massey must defend a new client against the gold digging and ravishingly beautiful Marylin Rexroth played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Marylin and Massey strike up an instant romantic rapport despite their cynical outlooks on the institution of marriage and the phenomenon of love. Both are carefully guarded and watching sharply for the inevitable double cross they've come to expect.

This is an incredibly enjoyable romantic comedy directed by two masters of cinema. Each carefully constructed gag doesn't fail to miss its target. Taking advantage of a big budget, the Coen brothers capture the sumptuously beautiful landscape of upper class California with beautiful shots. Apart from the leads, two of the best performances come from Billy Bob Thornton who plays a brilliant kind of double role and Irwin Keyes in his short-breathed assassin-for-hire role of Wheezy Joe. Far from the dark humor so brilliantly realized in Fargo and The Man Who Wasn't There, Intolerable Cruelty is nonetheless a hilarious satire about California marriage with plenty of delights.

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