I started to see previews for Intolerable Cruelty a few months ago. I do like George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and the movie looked interesting to me. I was finally able to go see it and I did really enjoy it.
Donovan Donaly, a producer of a soap opera, returned home early, and discovered his wife, Bonnie, with another man. She tried to talk her way out of it, but Donovan didn’t buy her excuses. They both did some things that resulted in Bonnie taking off in Donovan’s car and Donovan having an injury that he took pictures of. Donovan thought things would go his way in the divorce. Then Bonnie hired Miles Massey as her attorney. Miles was a very well known divorce lawyer. He would twist and spin things so that his client looked like the injured party.
Rex Rexroth headed off to a hotel with a woman that was not his wife. They were caught on video by Gus Petch, a man hired by Rex’s wife Marylin. She was sure she was set to get a huge settlement in the divorce. Things didn’t go as she planned because Rex hired Miles, who was attracted to Marylin, but he was still ruthless in court. Marylin was not happy and started to plot with her friend Sarah to land a new rich husband. One day Marylin turned up to see Miles at his office. Miles was happy until he saw the man, Howard D. Doyle, with her. Marylin said they were engaged and there to get a Massey prenuptial agreement. Miles was well known for his prenuptial agreements because they were considered iron clad and one had never been broken in a divorce. Neither spouse would gain anything in a divorce. Miles did the agreement for them. He was still very attracted to Marylin. They meet up again several months later. That meeting sets off an interesting chain of events in their lives.
CAST
George Clooney - Miles Massey
Catherine Zeta-Jones - Marylin Rexroth
Geoffrey Rush - Donovan Donaly
Cedric the Entertainer - Gus Petch
Edward Herrmann - Rex Rexroth
Paul Adelstein - Wrigley
Richard Jenkins - Freddie Bender
Billy Bob Thorton - Howard D. Doyle
Julia Duffy - Sarah Sorkin
Stacey Travis - Bonnie Donaly
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen - the opening credits of the movie only listed Joel, but when double checking the cast list on line, I found that Ethan was also listed as a director.
Intolerable Cruelty was released in October of 2003. The movie was around 100 minutes long and rated PG-13. Young children shouldn’t see this movie because of a few suggestive things said or done. Older children may not be interested in the plot of the movie.
I enjoyed Intolerable Cruelty. I thought it was funny and entertaining. There were a couple of scenes that dragged a little, but most of the movie seemed to be fairly fast paced. The movie, even the few scenes that I thought were slower, didn’t bore me. I was interested to see how things would work out for the characters. A few things that happened were predictable, but several other things happened that I didn’t think were predictable. There were a few twists in the movie that kept things interesting. The plot really wasn’t that complicated, but enough happened to keep things interesting.
Intolerable Cruelty was a romantic comedy. I thought it was different from other romantic comedies that I have seen. I thought that the plot was a unique twist to a romantic comedy movie. Miles was attracted to Marylin from the first moment he saw her, but he was still vicious in court against her. The build up of the romance between Miles and Marylin was the main focus of the movie. I did think that there was an attraction between the characters and that George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones had chemistry. There were a few sexually suggestive things in the movie, but there weren’t really any sex scenes. When Rex was caught with the other woman, they were in bed together, but they weren’t having sex yet and still some clothes on. That scene was really the closest to a sex scene that the movie had. It was implied that some other characters did have sex at some point, but only some kissing was shown. There was no nudity in the movie.
I thought that Intolerable Cruelty was funny. There were some hilarious scenes in the movie. Some started out more serious and then became funny, like the one at the beginning when Donovan found his wife with a pool man. Some things happened that I thought were really funny. Some people could consider some of the humor in the movie a little juvenile, but I think that there were only a few moments like that in the movie. There were a few dark elements in the movie, but they worked with the plot and what was going on. I don’t really think this was a dark comedy even though there were a few dark humor moments in the movie. It was a bit different though, so some people may not like it.
There was a little bit of violence in Intolerable Cruelty, but I don’t think the movie was really violent overall. Donovan and Bonnie had a fight and Donovan did end up injured. I thought that scene was more funny than violent, but other people may feel differently. During a court scene, someone tried to choke a witness. That was funnier than it was violent to me as well. Later in the movie something else happened that was violent, but not too much of that was actually shown. One character had some dogs that went after some other characters, but those scenes weren’t that violent either. I don’t think the violence would offend anyone since there was only a little in it.
I thought that the acting was really good in Intolerable Cruelty. I have seen George Clooney in several movies and in E.R. I do like him, but I’m not obsessed with him like some of his fans are. There has been some humor in some of the movies he’s done, like Ocean's 11, but his roles have been more serious. He hasn’t done that many comedies, but he has been good in them. His facial expressions were really funny at times in this movie. I have seen Catherine Zeta-Jones in several different movies. She was in America's Sweethearts, another romantic comedy a few years ago. Her character in that movie was calculating, like Marylin was, but the two were calculating in different ways. Earlier this year Catherine provided a voice in the animated movie Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas. Billy Bob Thorton’s character wasn’t in many scenes, but he was good in the scenes he had. He played another unique character. Jeffrey Rush had an even smaller part in the movie, but his scene at the beginning was really funny. He is a versatile actor. Earlier this year I saw in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, playing a character completly different from Donovan. He also provided a voice for a character in the animated movie Finding Nemo. I have seen Edward Herrmann in several movies over the years, but I can never remember what his name is. He provided a voice for a character in the movie Ice Age. The other actors didn’t have as much to do, but they were also good in their parts.
CHARACTERS
Miles Massey - A successful, well known, divorce lawyer. He could spin things in a way so that his clients came out ahead. He came up with the Massey prenuptial agreement that had never been broken in a divorce. Each party would keep their own assets in the event of a divorce. Miles was feeling like something was missing from his life even though he had a successful career. He was obsessed with his teeth and how they looked. Once he was even checking them out in a spoon in a restaurant.
Marylin Rexroth - Woman who had evidence that her husband had been unfaithful. She was counting on getting a large settlement. Miles messed up her plans, so he hatched a new one. She wanted money for independence. She seemed to enjoy baiting Miles.
Rex Rexroth - Marylin’s husband. He was caught with another woman. He hired Miles as his attorney.
Donovan Donaly - Producer of a soap opera. He discovered his wife with another man and was even injured. His life changed dramatically because his wife hired Miles.
Bonnie - Donovan’s wife. She was messing around with a friend of hers who had a pool cleaning business. She tried to explain what he was doing there when they had no pool, but Donovan didn’t buy her story. She hired Miles.
Howard D. Doyle - Heir to Doyle Oil and a very rich man. He and Marylin met and were planning to get married. Howard said he trusted Marylin and didn’t feel the need for a prenuptial agreement.
Sarah - Marylin’s best friend. Sarah was very rich thanks to some large settlements in previous divorces. She was currently living in a huge home alone while her husband was out of town for some reason. She didn’t seem to be that happy with her life.
I really enjoyed Intolerable Cruelty. It was a different sort of romantic comedy, but it was still funny and entertaining. Fans of George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones should enjoy the movie.
A Beverly Hills divorce lawyer gets his client out of a marriage without paying a settlement after setting up his client's wife. Now, the wife has pla...More at HotMovieSale.com
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