Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

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Directed by Joel Coen.

Starring George Clooney, Edward Herrmann, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush, Cedric the Entertainer.

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Joel and Ethan Coen take on the classic battle-of-the-sexes screwball comedy with Intolerable Cruelty. George Clooney plays Miles Massey, a high-powered Los Angeles divorce lawyer nearing a midlife crisis . While representing wealthy client Rex Rexroth (Edward Herrmann), Miles meets his match in Rex's gold-digging wife, Marilyn Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones). He's impressed by her similarly heartless ways of using marriage to fuel an expensive lifestyle, but he still defeats her in court. With Marilyn looking to get her revenge and Miles finding himself attracted to her, the two engage in a ruthless romantic pursuit to out-swindle each other. Billy Bob Thornton shows up in a small role as Texas oil tycoon Howard Doyle. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Re:Six Degrees of Separation #1
by leeroy711 in Movie Games

is neutral about it.

"Dench to Geoffrery Rush in Shakespeare in Love Rush to Billy Bob Thorton in Intolerable Cruelty Billy Bob Thorton to Sean William Scott in Mr Woodcock There, can anyone do it in less than three. " [More]

Leeroy's 5 queue picks for June ...
by leeroy711 in leeroy711 Blog

is neutral about it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. [What do you think?]
"These may not be the greatest titles of all time, but they're the right movies for right now The summer is starting, vacations are being planned, station wagons are being packed but all you can think of is sitting down in your favorite chair and zoning out in front of the tube. These are for you. Falling Down (1993) – Some people remember Joel Schumacher as the director that tried to ruin the Batman movies, some remember him much loved generation X classic, The Lost Boys. I choose to think of him as the director of this gem of an action/drama/dark comedy. This movie is perfect for the beginning of summer because one of the most memorable images is that of Michael Douglas’ sweat beaten body stuck in traffic with no air conditioning. Intolerable Cruelty (2003) – I think of Fargo and No Country for Old Men as the Oktoberfest special batch from the Coen brothers’ brewery. This movie would be slightly dilut ... " [More]

Intolerable Cruelty (2003, USA, ...
by CinemaRian in CinemaRian Blog

hasn't rated it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Just as many rock bands will at some point record a song or perhaps a entire record about the difficulties of being on tour and famous (The Kinks alone did three entire albums on this topic), eventfully, many filmmakers will want to make a statement about making movies or the Hollywood life style. In each film, even the great ones (such as Sunset Boulevard) we get the same message: Hollywood is some sort of soul sucking vortex, where dreams are inevitably shattered and shallowness and corruption reigns supreme. The Coen Brothers made a great film about this subject before with Barton Fink, and one of their masterpieces, Fargo, took place in a near soulless vortex of a different kind. They return to the subject with Intolerable Cruelty, a movie that, to be frank, sucks. The film is in a tie with The Ladykillers as the least of their work, and I can't figure out which is worst- Intolerable Cruelty is has so many lame ideas it's rarely boring, whereas The Ladykillers is too boring to ... " [More]

Re: Upcoming trilogies
by Risselada in Best Trilogies

loved it.

"I've only seen Dogville.It seems to be an unintentional trilogy. They really have nothing to do with eachother plot wise. They just all star Clooney and he plays some kind of an idiot I guess. But then again most of the Coen brothers movies star some kind of idiot. " [More]

Re: Upcoming trilogies
by lukasblu in Best Trilogies

is neutral about it.

""Lars von Trier's America Trilogy " can't wait to see the last one wasington;which one is your fave of the 2 released so far? i liked dogville better"Coens brothers were calling this The Idiot Trilogy starring George Clooney" saw both O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Intolerable Cruelty and i did not know they were a part of a trilogy;both movie were pretty good " [More]

Re: Upcoming trilogies
by Risselada in Best Trilogies

loved it.

"I'm not sure what this trilogy is called.Lars von Trier's America Trilogy maybe?Dogville (2003)Manderlay (2005)Wasington (2009?) Supposedly the Coens brothers were calling this The Idiot Trilogy starring George ClooneyO Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)Intolerable Cruelty (2003)Hail Caesar (2009?)but apparently before that they are shooting Burn After Reading which also features Clooney. " [More]

Re: Directors who have yet to m ...
by Risselada in Directors

loved it.

"First of all, why is working with someone else's material "in their defense"? :)And also, according to IMDB, even though it's based on a novel, they did write the screenplay.It's definitely not the first time they've written a screenplay based on other material.The Ladykillers based off the original british filmIntolerable Cruelty seems to be based off of someone else's story. I know the screenplay was rewritten and floated around for many years.O Brother, Where Art Thou? from Homer's OdysseyThe Big Lebowski is in many ways a retelling of The Big Sleep (a novel first)Miller's Crossing was taken from the novels of Dashiell Hammett most notably The Glass KeySeveral of their other movies are specific homages to certain other movies or styles or eras of movies " [More]

Re: Top 5 Character Introductions
by Risselada in Filmspotting

loved it.

"Groucho Marx usually has pretty great indrocutions in the Marx brothers movies. For example in Duck Soup when the huge hoopla and ceremony of him wating to show up, and then he comes through another door and joins in the celebration waiting for himself to show up.And also in a similar build up, Heinz, the Baron Krauss von Espy's name repeated announced upon him entering the coutroom in Intolerable Cruelty. All after the scene about finding the Tenzing Norgay which I'd rather not describe if you haven't seen it. That movie had a lot of good introductions like all Coen brothers movies now that I think about it. At the very beginning with the introduction of the first character we see, Geoffrey Rush's character, in his convertable with Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer" beginning to play and Rush's character anticipating wanting to sing along comes in a bar too early and gives up for a moment frustrated. That's such a real life thing I'd never seen ... " [More]

Re: George Clooney
by Risselada in Player Haters Ball

loved it.

"And I don't now how you could deny the brilliance of his performance in his work with the Coen brothers. O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Intolerable Cruelty.And supposedly he is starring in the upcomming Hail Caeser. I think they were calling this the Idiot Trilogy. " [More]

Old-school comedy
by Kim_Kelly in Kim_Kelly Blog

loved it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Anyone with an appreciation for the comedies of the ~40's will like this movie. Clooney channels Cary Grant as a smitten, although seemingly heartless divorceattorney. I can't say I usually care for Zeta-Jones, but she is scathing in this film!They're both gorgeous, hilarious and the chemistry is palpable. Love it. " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

is neutral about it.

Intolerable Cruelty feels exactly like what it is, a Coen brothers film that did not originate from the mind of Joel and Ethan. There are turns of phrase that are unmistakably the work of the duo, but the pacing of this story is not as crisp as their other work. There are a handful of quick-paced, snappy, dialogue-laden scenes and, in those sequences, the film takes full flight. George Clooney is inspired as the suave, vain divorce lawyer shark. He is thoroughly unlikable and yet the audience loves him. Clooney is one of the rare stars who is truly unafraid of looking buffoonish. He throws himself into this part; that the film works as well as it does has much to do with his performance. Catherine Zeta-Jones also delivers a strong performance, although her character being more inscrutable than Clooney's makes it difficult for her to connect with the audience in quite the same way. The rest of the cast is pretty much pitch-perfect, with Billy Bob Thornton getting huge laughs in a pair of scene-stealing sequences. Even though the pacing and the quality of the film varies from scene to scene, Intolerable Cruelty deserves credit for being a genuine update of the classic screwball comedy form. The screenplay is good enough, but the actors mine every ounce of quality from it. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Tags: trickery , divorce , lawyer , revenge , law
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