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Overall Rating
3.01

Awesome: 8.64%
Worth A Look32.1%
Average: 28.4%
Pretty Bad: 13.58%
Total Crap: 17.28%

6 reviews, 45 user ratings


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Intolerable Cruelty
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by Elaine Perrone

"That a Coen film would be 'just tolerable' is terribly disappointing."
3 stars

For all its eye-popping color and style, Intolerable Cruelty still comes off looking like a beautifully turned out mannequin, gorgeous but lifeless, missing the Coens' trademark heart.

As landshark attorney Miles Massey and serial man-shark Marylin Rexroth, George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones seem air brushed, and their clever banter studied rather than scintillating.

Everyone seems to be doing a lot of mugging and emoting, but no one seems to be having an especially good time. (Edward Hermann, who plays Marylin's philandering husband Rex Rexroth, is a particularly embarrassing caricature, called upon to ham it up shamelessly.)

Still, any Coen Brothers film is better than no Coen Brothers film, and flashes of their brilliance do shine through.

In a wickedly funny opening sequence, L.A. based Australian TV producer Donavan Donaly (Geoffrey Rush) arrives home to find his wife Bonnie (Stacey Travis) in bed with the pool cleaner, even though their house has no pool. Featuring a recording of Simon & Garfunkel's sublime "The Boxer," the scene holds out the promise of more great things to come. Sadly, it's a promise largely unfulfilled.

Still, it does set the stage for Bonnie to hire Miles, successfully becoming the injured party in her divorce proceedings through the benefit of the "Massey Pre-Nup," a document so ironclad that it has a semester devoted to its study at Harvard.

My favorite scene features the two man-eaters, Marylin and her best friend Sarah Sorkin (Julia Duffy), lolling around a pool discussing divorce strategy while, in the background, Edith Piaf warbles "Non, Je ne regrette rien."

Unfortunately, there are precious few of those wonderful moments. It may well be that too many writers (there were two, besides the Coens) simply spoiled the broth. I have every hope that getting back to the basics of writing and directing their own work without outside interference will put Ethan and Joel back on track.

On the plus side, the film is a beauty, thanks to the breathtaking (as always) cinematography of Roger Deakins, the knockout sets and glamorous costumes -- particularly Zeta-Jones' ravishing wardrobe -- and the physical splendor of the two leads themselves. For all it's visual brilliance, though, the movie is pretty much All Dressed Up with Nowhere to Go.

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link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=8243&reviewer=376
originally posted: 07/23/04 12:53:20
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User Comments

9/17/08 Stu Some good dialouge and Clooneys charm make this Hollywoodised Coen Bros. film watchable. 3 stars
6/11/08 PAUL SHORTT FULL OF FUN, GLAMOUR, ENTERTAINMENT & ENOUGH STAR POWER TO BLAST THROUGH ANY REPETITIVENESS 4 stars
11/17/06 Alyssa Hale Total Crap! Nothing more to say! 1 stars
3/22/06 R.W.Welch Passable comedy but lacks the early Coen off-the-wall flair. 3 stars
12/30/05 Agent Sands An immense amount of charm from the two stars, but the Coens are beginning a descent. 4 stars
8/14/05 Charlene Javier What a disappointment! 2 stars
8/01/05 Bad Critic Who really gives a crap about a couple spoiled retards who only care about money? 2 stars
4/18/05 Jeff Anderson Has it's cruel mind in the gutter. A sad & pathetic waste of time & unfunny to boot. 1 stars
12/09/04 Kristina Williams Clooney's smooth a hell 4 stars
11/26/04 alien assassin I've been workin' on the railroad !!! 4 stars
10/24/04 NJ Cup Winner 95-00-03 Clooney is doing Cary Grant, and that's quite a feat. Great flick! 5 stars
10/04/04 Josh Standlee I laughed so hard that at times I was fighting for air! Hilarious! 5 stars
9/26/04 VIctor Not a fan of Clooney but he's very good in this usually-funny satire; CZJ just okay 4 stars
9/05/04 psycho dwarf Like bike-race spectators you wait for long periods til the fun parts come & go too quickly 3 stars
8/19/04 Kaylee Lover Give me a break, a wasted 1.5 hours 2 stars
7/24/04 Jerry&Joan An unbelievable waste of time-This can only happen when actors are under contact. 1 stars
7/24/04 Sandy Turynowicz lots of laughs 4 stars
4/18/04 Martin Meant to be an over the top caricature. Most don't get it. Very funny if you are cynical. 5 stars
4/06/04 Agent Sands Story gets pretty contrived, but Clooney is one hilarious dude. Coens are slowly decreasing 3 stars
3/28/04 HorrorScribbler Not top-notch Coen brothers, but still pretty good. 4 stars
2/22/04 Mindy This movie was by far the biggest waste of my time in a while! I should've been paid. 1 stars
2/21/04 Denise Duspiva funny 3 stars
1/23/04 Chloe Brody A bit of fun 4 stars
11/27/03 Wendy Sue VERY funny in it's odd Coen way, just not alot of depth 4 stars
11/12/03 Helen Bradley slow pace 2 stars
11/12/03 Chris I like it but the film tired too much and we never feel Clooney and Zeta-Jones romance. 3 stars
11/09/03 Eddie Fan Worst movie ever made. Fucking boring waste of money. Zeta Jones can't act! 1 stars
11/07/03 Cameron Slick While not one of the Coen's better work, it's a worthwile entertaining goofball romantic. 4 stars
11/04/03 John Bale Cary Grant like Clooney and stunning Zeta Jones mix in Coen Bros magic. Much fun ! 5 stars
11/03/03 wrob Occasionally funny, but mediocre overall 2 stars
10/31/03 alien assassin Anyone who calls this film crap must be joking. Why don't you grow out of "Jackass" !!!!! 5 stars
10/31/03 Catherine Zeta Jones thinks her Welsh shit doesn't stink! (I can say that because I'm Welsh too.) 3 stars
10/31/03 Natasha Bly Guys in cast do best to pull humor out of harrowing subject; CZJ is her usual gigabrat. 3 stars
10/24/03 Jason King Found Clooney's mugging hilarious in its overstatement. One of the best movies of the year. 5 stars
10/23/03 DeeDee I watched it today and it was a waste of my money. It sucked big time. 1 stars
10/20/03 TheOthersFan if nothing else, a refreshing departure from the conventional romantic comedy formula 4 stars
10/19/03 Titus Not a worthy Cohen bros outing, but the stars are fun to watch. Worth matinee prices. 3 stars
10/17/03 no2coen Run! Run away. 1 stars
10/17/03 cpbjr Worth watching CZJ and GC 3 stars
10/16/03 Angry Black Man beautiful looking cast, but so-so movie. 3 stars
10/14/03 Lord Jiggy Enjoyed it a lot, a nice surprise. Clooney worked for me, so did the weird characters. 4 stars
10/14/03 harpoonflyby funnier than all hell. story sucked 4 stars
10/13/03 Ida A cute movie 4 stars
10/12/03 KCobain Horrid 1 stars
10/11/03 Michael Fantastically charming and wacky rom-com with an edge, & Clooney's best performance ever 5 stars
IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
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USA
  10-Oct-2003 (PG-13)
  DVD: 10-Feb-2004

UK
  N/A

Australia
  23-Oct-2003



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