Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

25 out of 41 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent in every aspect!!

Hugh Farquhar from London, England, 24th February, 2004

When you have two of the most swarve actors playing off each other then you are bound to be onto a winner.

George Clooney and Catherine Zeta Jones are the alternate in finesse in this battle of love vs money. From the very first moment that Miles, George's character, and Marilyn, Catherine's character, meet you know that each character has completely different agendas. As Miles tries to woo Marilyn the audience is taken for a ride of hope and dispare, of will they, won't they get together. Just when you think that things have finally worked themselves out another spanner is thrown into the works.

I expect to be adding this to my DVD collection, excellent in every aspect!!

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18 out of 18 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent Old School Humour

Gromit from , 16th April, 2006

I'm not sure what the other reviewers here didn't like about this film, as most of them didn't ellaborate. But this is a good film and definitely worth a watch. The film takes a step back from the pace of modern hollywood and revisits a time were men wore impecable suits and women wore slinky cocktail dresses oozing sex appeal. Clooney pulls off a superb performance as the fast talking, hard-nosed lawyer lead - often resembling but not plagiarising Cary Grant. Zeta Jones, although a tad wooden, plays the lead femme fatale perfectly. This is a great 'sunday afternoon' style romcom, definitely worth a watch, especially if you're in the mood for an old black and white movie but appear to have seen them all!

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15 out of 23 people found the following review helpful:

The Coen Brothers enter the mainstream

principessaleah from HERTS, 23rd March, 2004

Intolerable Cruelty is the story of Miles Massey, a successful, bored divorce lawyer looking for challenges, and perfect teeth. Onto his horizon comes Catherine Zeta-Jones, playing gold-digger Marilyn Rex-Roth, a woman after his own heart and cash. Divorce suits follow, and cupid tries to dodge the pre-nuptial agreements that seem to accompany every proposal.

This is a marvellous film, following in the footsteps of the great screwball comedies of the forties made popular by Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. Clooney and Zeta-Jones are fantastic as the cynical pair slowly learning to love. They really do have chemistry together, and both seem to be having a great time. We all know now that Clooney isn’t a man afraid to ridicule himself, but who would have thought that Catherine Zeta-Jones could mock her own star image so gracefully.

The supporting cast is, as you would expect from a Coen brothers film, wonderful, with supporting roles for Geoffrey Rush and Billy Bob Thornton among others. Especially funny is the wheezing hitman played by Irwin Keyes. The production values are high, making this a glossy, attractive picture with a fast pace and multitude of terrific visual gags.

Coen brothers acolytes may complain that Intolerable Cruelty is too mainstream, but when a tired format can be brought to life with such joy and fun, who really cares? This is a must see, so what are you waiting for? Go see it.

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9 out of 10 people found the following review helpful:

Fantastic film

Ilona from Havant, 17th August, 2004

I don't much like CZJ, but this is suprisingly good. George Clooney is fantastic (the acting as well as to look at!), this film has twists and surprises throughout. A great plot line, superb humour and classy characters make this a definate 'must see' - you won't regret it.

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Sophisticated slow burn?

A Customer from Cambridge, 2nd December, 2008

This is an enjoyable film simply because it is Coen brothers. However, it falls short of other Coen brothers' films I have seen. Perhaps this is because their slow burn style is not seen at its best in modern sophisticated comedy. There are many good things to enjoy, not least a smooth performance from Gearge Clooney and the beauty and talent of Catherine Zeta-Jones..And where do the Coens and their casting director find all those wonderful faces and figures?! But the story is predictable and better suited to a more slick style of direction.Of course there is the usual sly dig at American culture and some isolated but truly wonderful moments of visual slapstick comedy that are the hallmark of the Coen brothers' work. Worth seeing, but running a little on empty.

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An enjoyable parody on modern relationships in the guise of a RomCom

tunnelweb from from Hamilton, 8th August, 2008

No body could argue that this film is amongst the Coens' best. However, it is an extremely enjoyable parody on modern relationships in the guise of a RomCom. It's darkly humourous, packaged in a visually clean aesthetic. George Clooney, it must be said, delivers a fantastic performance!

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Wake me when it's over.

Arcanum from from Morpeth, 8th July, 2008

An odd little film, which I have a very hard time categorizing. I rented it because I think George Clooney is very watchable and Catherine Zeta Jones is. . . well, Catherine Zeta Jones. Unfortunately neither of them managed to save the watching experience for me, in fact I would go so far as to say that Clooney was nothing short of irritating. Yes I know it's a Coen brothers movie and I should have expected it to be a little off kilter, but even allowing for that this thing was simply unenjoyable. Not to mention the fact that it completely lost me towards the end. Maybe I fell asleep, very possible, or the editor did, but there definitely seemed to be something missing. Anyway, Coen brothers fans may enjoy it but I would imagine most everyone else will be left scratching their heads or turning off in favour of doing those horrible household chores they've been avoiding for months.

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Customer Review

A Customer from UK, 23rd June, 2008

With two actors of certain pedigree, George Clooney and Catherine Zeta Jones, I had hoped for some salvation, even though the critics panned the film when it was first released. Alas, the critics were right. Having dozed on and off throughout the mediocre story my most enjoyable moment came when I finally pressed the eject button!

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