Here's an anomaly: a comedy about smart people.
Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
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Reviews Counted:176
Fresh:132
Rotten:44
Average Rating:6.7/10
Consensus: Though more mainstream than other Coen films, there are still funny oddball touches, and Clooney and Zeta-Jones sizzle like old-time movie stars.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for sexual content, language and brief violence
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Oct 10, 2003 Wide
Box Office: $35,096,190
Synopsis: Intolerable Cruelty is a romantic comedy about a man who wins in court and a woman who courts to win. A mix of Beverly Hills high glamour and maliciously competitive fun, it brings together in... Intolerable Cruelty is a romantic comedy about a man who wins in court and a woman who courts to win. A mix of Beverly Hills high glamour and maliciously competitive fun, it brings together in movie matrimony the high-powered filmmaking talents of Academy Award ® winners BRIAN GRAZER (A Beautiful Mind, 8 Mile) and JOEL COEN & ETHAN COEN (Fargo, O Brother, Where Art Thou?) with two of the screen’s biggest and brightest stars, GEORGE CLOONEY (Ocean’s Eleven, The Perfect Storm) and Academy Award® winner CATHERINE ZETA-JONES (Chicago, Traffic), along with a cast of unusual pedigree, including Oscar® winner BILLY BOB THORNTON (Monster’s Ball, The Man Who Wasn’t There), Oscar® winner GEOFFREY RUSH (Pirates of the Caribbean, Shine), CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER (Barbershop, The Original Kings of Comedy), EDWARD HERRMANN (Nixon, The Emperor’s Club) and RICHARD JENKINS (Changing Lanes, The Man Who Wasn’t There). Clooney portrays Miles Massey, a prominent Los Angeles divorce attorney who has everything—and in some cases, two of everything. Despite his impressive client list, a formidable win record, the respect of his peers and an ironclad contract (the “Massey pre-nup”) named after him, he’s reached a crossroads in his life. Sated on success, boredom has set in and he’s looking for new challenges. All that changes when Miles meets his match in the devastating Marylin Rexroth (Zeta-Jones). Marylin is the soon-to-be ex-wife of his client Rex Rexroth (Edward Herrmann), a wealthy real estate developer and habitual philanderer. With the help of hard charging private investigator Gus Petch (Cedric The Entertainer), she has Rex nailed and is looking forward to the financial independence a successful divorce will bring. But thanks to Miles’ considerable skills, she ends up with nothing. Not to be outdone, Marylin schemes to get even and as part of her plan, quickly marries oil tycoon Howard Doyle (Billy Bob Thornton). Miles and his unflappable associate, Wrigley (PAUL ADELSTEIN), unwittingly dig themselves in deeper and deeper as they go head-to-head with Marylin. Underhanded tactics, deceptions and an undeniable attraction escalate as Marylin and Miles square off in this classic battle of the sexes. Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment Present A Brian Grazer Production, In Association With Alphaville: George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Intolerable Cruelty, starring Geoffrey Rush, Cedric The Entertainer, Edward Herrmann, Richard Jenkins and Billy Bob Thornton. The casting is by Ellen Chenoweth. The music is by Carter Burwell. The costume designer is Mary Zophres. The co-producers are John Cameron and James Whitaker. The editor is Roderick Jaynes; the production designer is Leslie McDonald; and the director of photography is Roger Deakins A.S.C., B.S.C. The executive producers are James Jacks and Sean Daniel. Intolerable Cruelty is produced by Ethan Coen and Brian Grazer. The story is by Robert Ramsey & Matthew Stone and John Romano, and the screenplay is by Robert Ramsey & Matthew Stone and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen. It is directed by Joel Coen. The film is distributed worldwide by Universal Pictures. ©2003 Universal Studios. [More]
Starring: George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush, Cedric the Entertainer
Starring: George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush, Cedric the Entertainer, Billy Bob Thornton, Edward Herrmann, Paul Adelstein, Richard Jenkins, Julia Duffy, Jonathan Hadary, Irwin Keyes, Colin Linden
Director: Joel Coen
Director: Joel Coen
Screenwriter: Robert Ramsey, Matthew Stone, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Producer: Ethan Coen, Brian Grazer, James Jacks, Sean Daniel
Composer: Carter Burwell
Studio: Universal Pictures
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Reviews for Intolerable Cruelty
A competent bit of work from which striking originality and idiosyncrasy have mostly been pruned away.
The Coens do an efficient job of stamping their signature grotesquerie on sumptuous Beverly Hills and Las Vegas settings and ladling on gallows humor and malice, sometimes with the verve of early Robert Zemeckis.
This is the Coens dabbling in the mainstream, and bending it to their will.
The Coens’ first mainstream romantic comedy is a superb hijacking of an ailing art form -- short, sharp and frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious.
As Miles, Clooney doesn't make any direct emotional appeal to the audience and yet his high style is so smashingly effective that Miles stands open to us: macher, lover, patsy.
[Ce film] est tout ce que l’on ne veut pas voir les Coen faire dans leur futur, mais aussi le genre de comédie romantique que l’on souhaiterait voir plus souvent.
The script is whip-smart. The Coens come closer to the zaniness of their greatest comedy, Raising Arizona, then they have in all of their movies since then.
Despite the inconsistent script and low tone, this has many funny moments. If you can forget the negative view it takes of mankind, it’s entertaining because of the performances of Clooney, Zeta Jones, and the rest of the cast.
The Coens ... have taken a typically trite target for ridicule and splayed it out for an attack from outer space, where Coen brothers scripts tend to originate.
Has worthwhile moments, including an excellent performance by [George] Clooney, but the plotting is contrived.
...less than tolerable when it takes a turn into Blood Simple. The outright winner is Clooney, whose cheery star appeal keeps getting brighter and brighter.
Half the pleasure of Intolerable Cruelty is watching the Coens play it safe
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