Review of Intolerable Cruelty (2003) by Stuart K — 06 Feb 2015

The Coen Brothers go all mainstream for the first time since The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), with a revival of the screwball comedy genre. Based on a screenplay by Robert Ramsay and Matthew Stone (Life (1999), this is a very likeable and quirky romantic comedy which might be hard to crack on first viewing, but it's a film which does grow on you over time, especially with the colourful characters here. Successful divorce lawyer Miles Massey (George Clooney) who wants a challenge, he finds it when he represents Rex Rexroth (Edward Herrmann), who was caught by private investigator Gus Petch (Cedric The Entertainer) cheating on his wife Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who in turn is a gold-digger. Miles is able to help Rex win the case, but Miles hasn't seen the last of Marylin, she comes back to him when she wants to marry Texas oil tycoon Howard D. Doyle (Billy Bob Thornton), to talk to Miles about one of his marriage pre-nups, Miles is happy to oblige, but that isn't the end of that, and Marylin has revenge in mind for Miles. Alot of people are keen to dismiss the film as too mainstream by the Coen's standards, true it isn't up to the standard of their other films, there is still alot of fun to be had within this film. Clooney and Zeta-Jones spark off each other brilliantly, and there are some very amusing cameos and a brilliant script with sublime dialogue.

The Coen Brothers go all mainstream with a revival of the screwball comedy genre. The film has successful divorce lawyer Miles Massey (George Clooney) who wants a challenge, he finds it when he represents Rex Rexroth (Edward Herrmann), who cheated on...(read more) his wife Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who in turn is a gold-digger. Miles is able to help Rex win the case, but Miles hasn't seen the last of Marylin... Alot of people are keen to dismiss the film as too mainstream by the Coen's standards, true it isn't up to the standard of their other films, there is still alot of fun to be had within this film. Including characters such as assassin Wheezy Joe, the Scottish themed wedding in Las Vegas, and the funniest part of the film comes from a court testimony from a flamboyant concierge named Heinz, the Baron Krauss von Espy, which has to be one of the funniest characters the Coen's have ever created. Shame he wasn't in it more...