Intolerable Cruelty

Posted by Greg

November 10, 2007

Torture Can Be Fun

**1/2 out of *****

The creators of Intolerably Cruelty, Joel and Ethan Coen, are two of those rare people whose movies nearly take a backseat to their own reputations. Their fan club might not be as populous as the ones for Star Wars or The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but its members are just as fanatical and protective as any other club out there. From Raising Arizona and The Hudsucker Proxy, through to Fargo and The Big Lebowski, their fans have come to expect a certain off-kilter slant to the movies they put out, which are often populated with eccentric characters and violent/funny/bizarre plots. Intolerable Cruelty mostly breaks with that formula - I think it’s the most ‘mainstream’ of all their films to date - but being Joel and Ethan Coen almost works against them. It’s kind of like having Monty Python make a big-budget documentary; the very fact that they’re Monty Python will undoubtedly yield a product that’s just a little bit odd, giving you something that’s not quite what you were expecting. The same can be said for this movie.

Intolerable Cruelty starts off by giving us a peek into the lives of several different people who all have two things in common: 1) They’re cheating on their spouses and 2) They all retain the services of divorce attorney Miles Massey (George Clooney), a man so slick he makes Johnny Cochrane look like a first-year trainee. When wealthy philanderer Rex Rexroth comes to Miles and explains that not only has he been caught cheating, but his wife has the videotape to prove it, Miles senses a challenge and sets out to make sure that Mrs. Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones) gets nothing out of the divorce settlement. But when Miles finally meets the lady in question , he inevitably falls for and starts to pursue her.

But when Zeta-Jones purposefully marries again, divorces again and collects a fortune, finding a way out of the bullet-proof Massey pre-nuptial agreement she asked for, it leaves the door open for Miles to step in. But is it worth it to risk everything in pursuit of a woman he knows eats men for breakfast and keeps their inheritance for dessert? This is where the Coen touch comes into play, and it’s good for a few surprises. Some characters may not be all they seem to be, and even if you’ve guessed the ending, you’ve most likely not guessed the roundabout way the characters will get there.

Intolerable Cruelty is being sold as a straight-on romantic comedy, but what you don’t get a feel for from the ads is the rather large amount of slapstick humor sprinkled throughout. Most of the movie rests squarely on the shoulders of Clooney, who’s in nearly every scene; luckily he pulls it off. He’s actually a very gifted comedian and plays Massey with goofy vivacity that’s very entertaining to watch; almost an older, more mature Jim Carrey, believe it or not. Several scenes veered bizarrely into farcical humor mode, but even with the exaggerated facial expressions and flailing limbs that belong in a Looney Toons cartoon, Clooney manages to keep it all together.

The chemistry between the two leads won’t light the screen on fire, but Zeta-Jones plays her role of money-grubbing ice queen convincingly enough, and she demonstrates enough on-screen swagger to give Clooney’s legendary charm a run for its money. They do make a good couple and are fun to watch as they resist their clear attraction to each other, sensing that the other is their romantic adversary and should be approached with caution. Some snappy dialogue keeps things rolling — when Clooney plants a surprise kiss on Zeta-Jones, her facial expression barely changes as she says “I could have you disbarred for that.” He dumfoundly responds “You… fascinate me.”

The one thing that I did have a gripe with though, was that it’s hard to have any sympathy for these characters. Zeta-Jones and her rich-bitch friends spend their days sitting around the pool, air-kissing each other on the cheek and talking about how much money they got from their latest divorce. And as is the case in too many romances these days, the two leads fall ‘in love’ way too quickly to be believable. I think they spend about 18 minutes onscreen together and share one quick kiss before Miles decides that he’ll risk everything to be with her. Ultimately, he message that the film tries to convey - love conquers all - was presented in too shallow a way to have any real impact.

In the end, the movie is a fun distraction, although as I said before, it sometimes awkwardly see-saws back and forth between romance and slapstick, which makes the few ‘serious’ segments seem oddly out of place. Clooney and Zeta-Jones are of course nice to look at and perform as expected. The supporting roles are well cast and play their parts with entertaining zeal, which pads the movie a bit. An amusing but trite distraction and good for a night out, but if you really want a sharply written movie that presents the same message in a much sweeter way, watch When Harry Met Sally to see the genres reigning champion.

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