Review of The War of the Roses (1989) by Cecily G — 01 Apr 2010

OH HOW TRUE; how true; how true; how true . . .

How true; how true; how true; how true!!!!!

Twenty-somethings EVERYWHERE: Look upon WAR OF THE ROSES as if its a film written by a MIGHTY ORACLE.

Dude, people DO get married and people DO (seem to suddenly) CHANGE as the years fall upon one another.

14 YEARS for me (I'm still legally married though).

18 YEARS for the characters in this movie before . . . HELL!!!!

WAR OF THE ROSES is a funny as can be because it tells THE TRUTH about some (or most) marriages!!!!!

. . . and BELIEVE ME, WAR OF THE ROSES is ACCURATE in depicting how marriage erode and tumble into disrepair.

When I saw WAR OF THE ROSES 20 years ago on video, I only thought it to be kinda-sorta funny because I hadn't experienced or could not remotely imagine experiencing the stuff OLLIE and BARBARA ROSE go through and put themselves through to the BITTER END!!!!

And, 20 years ago, WAR OF THE ROSES was basically only available in 1:33.1 aspect ratio and the PAN & SCAN camera is constantly panning back and forth because DANNY DEVITO (an excellent director) uses the ENTIRE PANAVISION (2:35.1 aspect ratio) to capture the action;.

Usually directors using PANAVISION leave a lot of Dead Space in the frame.

So, 20 Years ago, in WAR OF THE ROSES, the PAN & SCAN camera would be panning to the right capturing KATHLEEN TURNER cartwheeling down the stairs and then SUDDENLY the film would CUT-BACK to MICHAEL DOUGLAS standing on the landing fearing for his wife's safety only WE wouldn't see MICHAEL DOUGLAS at all because the PAN & SCAN CAMERA is still angling on the far right of the screen.

BACK THEN, WAR OF THE ROSES was average to horrible but now 20 years later (and with 20 extra years of life-experiences) through the advents of LASERDISC and DVD, where we can actually the entire width of the frame, WAR OF THE ROSES is much, much better and meaningful.

With ROMANCING THE STONE and JEWEL OF THE NILE and then WAR OF THE ROSES, KATHLEEN TURNER and MICHAEL DOUGLAS were the equivalent of KATHERINE HEPBURN and SPENCER TRACY in the 1980s.

DANNY DEVITO's like THE PETER LORRE of the 1980s/.

Everybody from THAT DECADE must be pretty old and close to retiring by now.

I think it was REAGANOMICS ("trickle-down economics") that made the 1980s so spectacular!!!! (junk bonds and stuff; money and investing in mutual funds seemed to be easier to come-by in the 1980s--the 1990s were a lot darker in tonal colors and the films seemed kind of "meaner" and more vulgar.

--.

UPDATE:

SELFISHNESS destroys marriage.

You are MARRIED (and therefore "for" your spouse--two are joined in one flesh; therefore there must be SELF-LESS sacrifice made by both spouses in their marital commitments towards one another).

Ecclesiastes 11:9 (written by KING SOLOMON [in both HEBREW and the KING JAMES HOLY BIBLE]).

(I "get-a lot" of statements like: I'm Jewish and The Bible doesn't apply to me.

HERE KING SOLOMON is HEBREW and writing ECCLESIASTES read in both SYNAGOGUES and CHURCHES).

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.