Chris:
Ah, this review has been in the cooker for 3 days now. It’s
always harder to review a film you’re sort of indifferent
to. I’ll tell you straight out that Intolerable Cruelty
is a funny film, though not as frenetic and quirky as O Brother
Where Art Thou, Raising Arizona, or Barton Fink. I’d
say it ranks somewhere around The Hudsucker Proxy.
Anyways the film is based on Egyptian, Athenian, and Roman
prenuptual rights and divorce law, which I haven’t had
time to research. Miles Massey, creator of the impenetrable
Massey Pre-Nuptual, is a legendary divorce lawyer who wins
every case. He can steer the judge and jury toward agreeing
with his side of the case, even if facts are reversed, altered,
and completely obliterated. Along comes Rex Rexroth, a minimall
millionare married to Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta Jones).
He’s been caught cheating and wants a divorce. He wants
the split to be a 100-0 split. He gets everything and she
gets nothing. In court, with the aid of the hilarious Heinz,
the Baron Krauss von Espy, it is proven Marilyn is a career
divorcee, a woman who marries rich only to divorce and gain
financial clout. Marilyn is defeated and goes off to find
her next victim. Once Miles finds out about her next husband
(Billy Bob Thornton) he becomes obsessed. What happens is
a metaphorical game of chess. Miles and Marilyn the players,
financial gain and love as the possible goal. Each screws
over the other repeatedly, but in the end…it’s
all nice. You’ll see.
As I’ve said the film is based on Egyptian/Greek/Roman
pre-nuptual agreements, and is reflected in the settings for
the story. Miles lunches at Nero’s (restaurant), wines
and dines Marilyn at Caesar’s Palace, and all sets seem
to feature Roman statues. I honestly have to research this
more.
The film doesn’t exactly paint women in a good light,
but it doesn’t paint men as much better either. The
men are portrayed as noble young sirs who (even if they were
cheating), fall victim to scheming, money grubbing wives.
On the other hand all the men are ruled by their penises,
allowing bitches like Marilyn and her clan to seduce, marry,
and divorce.
I’m a big fan of Clooney (He’s the man, man!),
but not so much of Zeta Jones (Miss “I’ll sue
you if I look fat!”) Jones is okay, and there are moments
when Clooney really shines, but overall, due to the fact the
Coen Brothers weren’t the scriptwriters, this is an
atypical, more mainstream Coen Bros film. The humour is bitingly
funny, and may go over much of the audience’s heads,
but it is one of the few Coen Brothers pictures I wouldn’t
watch again.
As a side note, horror fans may find there are there are some
treats. Cameos feature Bruce Campbell, Irwin Keyes (House
of 1000 Corpses) and Ken Sagoes (Nightmare on Elm Street 3)
Kris:
This review was slightly more difficult for me as well, but
it was mostly becos I respect George Clooney (talented +damn
handsome) and the Coens. I wouldn’t exactly put any
of their movies on my ‘faves list’, but for amazingly
witty dialogue, intelligent arguments and sardonic ‘tour
de forces of nature’, I adore them.
I'm poo-pooing the sweeping score (over-the-top at times),
but pumped about a few brilliant shots. In a suspenseful scene,
spiky shadows of dracaena marginata [aka ‘money tree’
in Hawai'i, haha] eerily mimicked haunted house effects. In
a niiice dissolve, Massey’s pearly whites glow through
the windshield, only slightly obscured by reflections of passing
foliage.
Now lemme talk about reflections. We see Miles admiring his
set of 32 repeatedly, a combination of vanity and a façade
designed for client confidence. Investigation of the appearance
of teeth in dreams often points to a revelation and major
change in one’s life. Fear, also stands as a major catalyst;
we see Miles’ nightmare. He had projected his image
as an elderly miser, spitting image of his Firm’s big
boss, McKinnon (and you want horror, try having a 500 ton
truck of wrinkles parked in front of you, reminding you of
your feeble mortality). There are also glittering grommets
on Zeta-Jones’ odd blue outfit (pictured above) and
a little proclivity for snobby, mirrored sunglasses. There
were also hints of reflection in the characters’ clever
names: alliteration abound, rhyme time (i.e.: Doyle Oil),
and the obvious ‘Rex Rexroth’ +his Rolls Royce
insignia. (Also great for comedic effect.)
As I mentioned, the dialogue is witty, with a few guffaw
draw-ers which I hope won’t go over people’s heads
(i.e.: Billie Bob’s “Are you gonna leave a deposit?”,
which I thought doubled as a snide innuendo, or maybe I’m
just dirty like that), but at times I felt like it was naive
sock-you-in-the-head romance. Sure, we were meant to believe
in the bonds of love, but it was difficult to drive home with
these two diaphanous characters. Miles just wanted what he
couldn’t have (bonus: a good lay), and Marilyn just
wanted money, money, mah-nay!! It’s like if Kevin Spacey’s
char from Se7en was there, their heads would have been lopped
off in the first sequence, man.
But, oh, back to the important parts: Love, honesty, integrity,
devotion and Geoffrey Rush (flawless). We delve into the reactions
of unrequited love, sado-masochistic games and visions of
‘success’. We see that, *sigh*, even the wealthiest
of the wealthiest are unfulfilled. Love completes us, love
makes us weak, and love makes us act like idiots. Love is
great and I highly recommend it! This movie, however, was
only okay.
