Ein (un)möglicher Härtefall

I wouldn't have commented, except that I read too many reviews that mislead potential movie watchers.

This movie is exactly what it portents to be. A good comedy.

It's not a classic, but well worth your time. You'll enjoy it.

Clooney is excellent, and CZJ is the perfect counterpart. Plenty of recognizable names that seem to enjoy being involved, without the need to have huge billings...

Too bad these other reviewers can't just appreciate a fun movie. Don't pass on this movie, you'll be missing some good entertainment.

'Intolerable Cruelty' has panache. Clooney delivers an impressive performance, one of his best that I have seen him in. When a bad movie comes out, it's easy to eat it alive and point out every dumb thing about it. Since this movie had something going, it's hard to point out the good points and why I liked it. Let's just say that 'Intolerable Cruelty' has a story, one that holds up until the movie sells out near the very end. But the acting and the story for one thing, I give credit for, held up quite well.

Miles Massey, successful divorce lawyer, meets his match (and maker), in Marilyn Rexroth a man-eater when, after her failure to win the ex-husband's fortune, goes for the Massey pre-nup in another marriage, to intrigue her opponent.

Two thirds through the movie, everything holds up so nicely. There is wit, charisma, character on the part of Clooney and Mrs. Douglas. The story is perfect and anyone should easily pick up on. The movie is near-perfect ... until towards the end, where wit turns to cheese, charisma goes to blandness, and character goes way to the Hollywood sell-out. I hate movies that don't stay true to themselves, but I can't blame most of this movie or the Coens. It was probably in their best interest all along.

I am amazed at the lack of true movie knowledge that is displayed in these boards sometimes. If I had to guess at the age of the writers of bad reviews this particular movie has garnered in the reviews preceding mine, I would say at best 18. Not a single one of these unknowing boobs remembers Cary Grant, nor the fast-talking zany comedies like Bringing up Baby, and again nor the romance comedies of Hepburn & Tracy.

The Coen Brothers like to do re-hashes, ie. Miller's Crossing/Blood Simple/Big Lebowski are their different takes on film noir. And now they made an amusing film of a different era again. Sexiness/chemistry does not mean bare flesh, nor does action or cursing make a modern classic. The one fault of the Coen's in making this movie was a lack of close-ups - a dead giveaway for what they were trying to achieve.

At best, this is a funny romantic black comedy, with witty dialogue. At worst, it is absurdist black comedy.

I saw it recently for the second time, and even though the huge holes in the plot are still there, I liked it much more than the first time. Thinking of the holes, Coens are very talented artists - perhaps we, the audiences are supposed to be smarter than Miles Massey (George Clooney - perfectly cast) - the very successful, always victorious divorce attorney for the rich and famous? Massey is the author of unbreakable "Massey's Pre - Nup" but he is so bored and restless than maybe he is waiting for someone who would be able to break it? Enters cool and sensual Marylin Rexroth (who looks exactly like Catherine Zeta-Jones), the woman who is after "wealth, independence, and freedom" and who "eats the men like Massey for breakfast" with the glass of French red wine Château Margot, 1954. Thus starts the game of wills, wits and desires with twists in every turn. Some of them are surprising and clever, some - predictable. "Intolerable Cruelty" may not be the best Coens' film but it is enjoyable, stylish, and funny. At least two scenes closer to the end of the movie are absolutely hilarious.

George Clooney stars as a self-loving whiter than white toothed lawyer who is becoming bored with his never-ending success. A challenge comes in the shapely form of Marilyn Rexroth (Catherine Zeta Jones) who wants to marry (or preferably divorce) her way to riches. With Clooney hired to represent her soon to be ex husband, he inevitably falls for the gold diggers charms.

Directed by the Coen brothers, a directorial team who have helmed oddball comedies such as 'Fargo' and 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' this is the team's first branch in to a high profile Hollywood film. Clooney, as the sharp suited lawyer, is excellent. Like Cary Grant or David Niven, Clooney is able to mock himself without compensating his screen appeal. Catherine Zeta Jones as the money hungry Marilyn is as sexy as her character demands from the scripted page. However, despite the quick fire dialogue, Intolerable Cruelty is simply not as funny as it thinks, it's cynical message of love and money taking away the romantic push it needs to place it in the league of the Tracy/Hepburn films the movie aspires to. Clooney's character also suffers from an over enthusiastic plot that later drives his character to attempt to commit a crime that totally contradicts the audiences perception of him. A battle of the sexes comedy that has sex appeal but no romance, Intolerable Cruelty is a film that reaches for the golden age of Hollywood but only touches the bronze.