ElMaruecan82 Weird, my two lowest rated Coen brothers' movies (with a 6 to be precise) are the overpraised "O' Brother Where Art Thou" and the disastrous "Hail, Caesar!" and what do they have in common? Bingo, both movies feature the talented and charismatic George Clooney and both seem to waste his very talent in scripts that don't generally offer more than the usual quips and quirks but devoid of these subtle touches of genius that transcend the movie. All things come in three with "Intolerable Cruelty", a movie I still enjoyed but which I can't give more than 7. Seriously, why the alchemy never quite works between the Coen brothers and Clooney, as it does with Frances McDormand or even John Goodman? I think the Coen brothers are masters when it comes to witty stories with a dark edge, told with enough distance to enhance the irony and enough dedication to draw us into the picture. As much as we can't take seriously the Dude's misadventures, we empathize with him because we do believe that the rug tied the room together and they had no right to pee on it! In "Fargo", we condemn Jerry's crazy scheme with all our heart and we laugh at Carl's constant bad luck, but we do feel the tragic waste of lives and are genuinely touched by Marge's poignant statement about a certain beautiful day. That's the Coen brothers' magic, this balance between cynicism and sincerity. And when "Intolerable Cruelty" started, I received the expected shot of cynicism and it was delightfully Coenian. The film opens with a soap opera producer, Geoffrey Rush, coming back home and discovering a suspicious truck parked outside and his wife in a situation that leaves no doubt about her recent schedule. Now, the incident is mildly funny, it involves the obligatory exchanges of lines and gunshots but it's all in the way the whole case is distorted with the mouth of nuptial lawyer and redoubtable expert Miles Massey. And it's not surprising that his establishing shot starts with his newly whitened teeth, Massey has such a dashing smile and white teeth that it seemed to have contaminated his words with the same aura, even the cheating wife (Stacey Travis) embraces his version of the facts. Later we see whatever happened to the poor husband and realize the extent of Massey's competence. Massey is a pro, he's so good he's bad, so good that he codified a contract, a 'pre-nuptial' agreement that is totally unbreakable, a fool-proof contract making divorce much more a no-option for the richer spouse as if he or she was a devout Catholic. We never know the content of this agreement, but it doesn't matter, it's handled like a clever McGuffin, a piece of paper establishing that makes predatory marriage unfeasible, but the catch is this: it's made of paper, so it can be torn, generally out of love... both love and justice are blind, so pray God to have Massey on your side in both cases. That aspect of the story works like a funny running gag, it's just as if the reason to be of this contract is to be torn, as if it was made only to be contradicted. And when you dig deeper, you realize that this is the basis of most screwball comedies, it's about 'certitudes' and appearances waiting to be proven overrated or wrong, to meet their match. And the match to Clooney's sex-appeal couldn't have come from a woman other than Marilyn, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Massey is a man so confident in his charm, so religiously rooted in the conviction that his baby darling is unbreakable, that he needed to be confronted to a serial divorcee with the beauty of Jones, she's a challenge to Massey's ideas and a challenge, period. She's so irresistibly attractive that it doesn't even play as plot contrivance when the two of them meet at a restaurant and discuss about love and marriage, and their two cynical views collide leaving us wondering which one of them will win the fight of ideas and the other will get love as a prize of consolation. So there's something in "Intolerable Cruelty' that echoes the old Hollywood screwball comedies, with two roles tailor made for the most glamorous actor and actress of the early 2000's, the new Cary Grant and Ava Gardner. The film also had a share of scene-stealing supporting characters from Paul Adelstein as the easy crier assistant, Cedric the Entertainer as a private eye, Billy Bob Thornton as a rich Texan and perfect target for Marilyn, not to mention Irwin Keyes who's responsible for the film's single most hilarious moment, but despite all this great casting, the interplays between the two leads are so overused that we're left with a sort of a cinematic Catch 22. I had the impression that the Coens are too in awe with their stars to let the story venture in other realms of unpredictability or if they're so blasé about the story that they don't really try to push it further. Something was lacking, a spice, a chemistry. Hard to tell. I enjoyed "Intolerable Cruelty" during the crucial moments where Clooney and Jones were interacting but for a movie showing us how far and wrong a marriage could go, there was nothing really out of the ordinary, nothing ingenuous or risqué, the whole thing is played like a little farce, a joke where everyone is on, except for the viewers. It's enjoyable... but never to the point that you wish to watch it again, And not being re-watchable is a mortal sin when it comes to the Coen brothers.Don't take me wrong, I don't blame the film for being bad, but for not being as good as its story promises, for not swimming in more unsafe waters. In fact, if it was half what the Massey contract's reputation established, it could have been something.

HotToastyRag I'm really not a Coen Brothers fan, even though I've sat through several of their films with an open mind and a willingness to laugh. Intolerable Cruelty and Hail, Caesar! are the only films of theirs I not only like, but love!George Clooney stars as a successful and famous divorce lawyer, but he confides to his faithful assistant, Paul Adelstein, that he's bored with his life. While protecting his client, Edward Hermann, from surrendering a huge divorce settlement, he finds himself falling for the gold-digging wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones! George and Catherine have fantastic chemistry together, and the sparks practically fly off the screen! Catherine is incredibly beautiful-as always-and even when you're hating what she's doing, you'll still love watching her do it. George's subtle touches to his character make him so realistic in his role, and he plans out his comedic delivery with separate perfect beats for stutters, expressions, and words.Everyone in the film is at their comedic prime, delivering the hilarious lines with impeccable timing and amazingly straight faces. Even though I own this movie and have enjoyed watching it at least twenty times by now, I still can't pick a favorite scene, joke, or character. Paul Adelstein's palpable disgust when he eats at a greasy spoon is so relatable, and when he finally bursts out, "Why are we eating here?" it has me in heaps of laughter every time. Geoffrey Rush opens the film in a hilarious vignette, and every second he's on the screen there's something to laugh at. Richard Jenkins, Edward Hermann, and Billy Bob Thorton also have small but memorable roles, and the movie wouldn't be nearly complete without them.From "Have you ever sat before her before?" to "What are you nuts, have you forgotten Kershner?" to "I told him it was no-go", Intolerable Cruelty is full of lines that will quickly become household phrases. Give it a watch, and if we have the same sense of humor, I know you'll love it as much as I do!

Steven Boyajian Great Movie. In our times this is the perfect story of our society that is only materially satisfied. The two most cynical people possible to imagine a jilted woman and a cynical materialistic and egotistical divorce lawyer who does not believe in love and an equally cynical woman who under the power of love fall for each other. Wonderful movie excellent comedy acting by George Clooney and Catherine Zeta Jones. If you have a sense of humor George Clooney will bring it out of you in this one. This movie made me go back and watch every comedy movie that George ever made. There is nothing better than a great comedy to make you forget your everyday problems and remember how ironic life is.

zardoz-13 A madcap comedy of errors about matrimony and divorce, "Intolerable Cruelty" is simultaneously both fast-paced as well as satirical. Leading man George Clooney is the epitome of the Warner Brothers cartoon character Wile E. Coyote, while leading lady Catherine Zeta-Jones qualifies as the Road Runner. Clooney plays the sartorially elegant Miles Massey, a crackerjack divorce attorney who can always be counted on to find enough wiggle room to his clients out of virtually any predicament, and Zeta-Jones plays gold-digging vamp Marilyn Rexroth, a serial millionaire divorcée, who seems to outwit the sagacious Miles at every turn. This lightweight, often frothy, romantic comedy appropriates the theme of divorce, and it posits not surprisingly that compromise lies at the heart of marriage as an institution as well as divorce. Our fiendishly clever courtroom protagonist has drawn up the ultimate solution to every spouse's nightmare: the renowned Massey Pre-Nup, a binding, loop-hole free, pre-marital agreement contract. If you are wealthy and you don't want to split everything or worse with your spouse after either you or she has been caught in the arms of another lover, you sign the Massey Pre-Nup. As our hero informs us at one point, the Massey Pre-Nup is the subject of at least one class at the prestigious Harvard Law School.When our vain attorney lays his eyes on Marilyn for the first time in his office, Miles is smitten by this delectable doll and grovels shameless at her feet for her heart. She warns him that such behavior could serve as grounds for getting him disbarred, but he dismisses this threat as a mild inconvenience. The plot revolves around how useful the Massey Pre-Nup is where matters of the heart are concerned. Love, as it turns out, is the one thing that Miles hasn't factored into his prenuptial agreement. When our devious heroine ties the knot with a hopelessly wealthy Texas millionaire, she convinces him to tear up the pre-nup in an act of love. Literally, he eats the document. Like all good movies, "Intolerable Cruelty" comes with several surprises that keep us on our toes. Unfortunately, as much fun as it is, this Coen Brothers' effort doesn't generate the level of hilarity of either "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" or "The Big Lebowski." Nevertheless, it is worth watching and you can have a lot of fun watching it more than once. The cast is uniformly excellent that supports both Clooney and Zeta-Jones. Cedric the Entertainer plays a profane private-eye who lives for the big moment when he can catch philandering couples on video. Coen Brothers' frequent cast member Richard E. Jenkins plays Freddy Bender who acts as Marilyn's attorney. Billy Bob Thornton is amusing as Marilyn's second husband, and Jonathan Hadary steals his only scene during a courtroom sequence as Baron Krauss von Espy who sets our heroine up with likely husband prospects that she can take to the cleaners in divorce court.