utgard14
Well-made but not much fun. This is a dark comedy starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner as a couple whose relationship takes an ugly turn when she wants a divorce. Danny DeVito co-stars and also directs. It's a very interesting movie, although not particularly enjoyable for my tastes. The characters aren't that likable despite the actors' charms. There's also some mean-spiritedness that made me wish the eventual fate of these two would happen an hour sooner than it does. Large parts of the movie, particularly in the first half, feel a bit like a stage play filmed on old-fashioned sets. There's something quaint about that I like but it's also a little distracting. I can certainly understand why others would like, if not love, this movie. I don't regret watching it but it's something I'll probably never watch again.
leplatypus
Usually, the romance story is a fairy tale. Here it's a scary and bloody break-up: I can't say that i found that funny, especially when the characters are neatly defined: Katlheen wants her freedom while Michael expects undying love. It was also painful to follow as it's 2 hours and it's a bit long. However De Vito is really inspired as a director (as well as a cool actor): i got the feeling that he did it as a dark tale and with some strange camera work and his exterior narration, it looks like a Tim Burton movie (except the fantastic ingredient). In addition, this big mansion is really fit to become a battlefield so i could watch it entirely! NB: i expected the scene in which they divide their house by painting frontiers and i didn't see it, also in the trailer: Did i dream it ???
Movie Junkie
Late night television in the modern era is the final resting place of former Hollywood hits. It also has the advantage in this more conservative America of being unedited. So I couldn't miss a chance to view again this classic , commercial free.The War of the Roses (1989) is also the sunset of the great paring of Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas who together made some of the more memorable movies of the 1980's.This is the life and times of Oliver and Barbara Rose. A married couple with grown children who are getting a divorce. We are invited as voyeurs to witness this collapse by a family friend , Attorney Gavin D'Amato (Danny DeVito). Anyone who has gone through separation and marriage in their lives can relate to the storyline.The Script is the life of the party , and is greatly enhanced by Douglas and Turner's long tenure of on screen works. Their team effort pays off in bringing a more chilling reality to what other wise could have been a disaster of a film. Credit goes to Danny DeVito for his direction but with this unique acting team and a script of this beauty(written by Michael Leeson), it was probably a movie you could not wreck even if you intentionally tried.The flow of the film is magical as more and more psychological and socially dysfunctional scenarios stack upon one another to make one train wreck of a marriage. Support from actors such as Sean Astin and the like can feel marginal but it is most certainly only a perception owed to the lead actors over the top performance. The Film is as amusing as it is thought provoking in the area of personal relationships.Four Stars(of 5).
GuRUCLANdotcom
I've seen this movie many, many times, and enjoy it just as much as the first viewing. That's why I have to give it a ten. The first time I saw this film I must have been a teenage girl about 14 years old. I remember thinking Mrs. Rose was a complete selfish bitch. Why did she hate her husband who provided her this wonderful house, furnished with beautiful things, was a good father to their children and made enough money so she didn't have to work, or ever have money problems? But like I said before, I was a girl, never been in a relationship or had a boyfriend. I never noticed the fact that he was a smug, nonchalant, inattentive husband....and a bottom feeding lawyer to boot...LOL! Looking at it now, I see how she grew to loath him, having now had a better understanding of the dynamics of a relationship.It's like Devto said in the movie and maybe not verbatim, "I am a believer in evolution. We came from mud and at our core is still mud". Which explains why people can do the things they do. How people can plot to kill their spouses for profit and property. I no longer wonder how things between two people can start of blissful and end up bastardized.........Just give it time.Could it be Devito was right when he says "Maybe it's not natural to stay married to one person the rest of your life. My parents did it...63 years....a few of them good". LOL.One thing I have learned about relationships "There is no winning, just degrees of loosing". And from personal experience, I've learned to get out early and cut my losses.War of the Roses is a must see movie....highly recommended for date night! LOL!
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