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The War of the Roses (1989)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
8 December 1989 (USA) moreTagline:
Once in a lifetime comes a motion picture that makes you feel like falling in love all over again. This is not that movie.Plot:
A married couple try everything to get each other to leave the house in a vicious divorce battle. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(5 articles)
Add All About Steve to the List of Punful Movie Titles (From Huffington Post. 3 September 2009, 3:41 PM, PDT)
Exclusive: Entering The Blood Factory with Danny DeVito
(From Fangoria. 30 July 2009, 5:55 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
HE is HER victim more (80 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Michael Douglas | ... | Oliver Rose | |
| Kathleen Turner | ... | Barbara Rose | |
| Danny DeVito | ... | Gavin D'Amato | |
| Marianne Sägebrecht | ... | Susan | |
| Sean Astin | ... | Josh at 17 | |
| Heather Fairfield | ... | Carolyn at 17 | |
| G.D. Spradlin | ... | Harry Thurmont | |
| Peter Donat | ... | Jason Larrabee | |
| Dan Castellaneta | ... | Man in Chair | |
| Gloria Cromwell | ... | Mrs. Marshall | |
| Harlan Arnold | ... | Mr. Dell | |
| Mary Fogarty | ... | Mrs. Dell | |
| Rika Hofmann | ... | Elke | |
| Patricia Allison | ... | Maureen | |
| Peter Brocco | ... | Elderly Mourner |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
116 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Dolby SRCertification:
Iceland:12 | USA:R (certificate #30033) | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | West Germany:16Fun Stuff
Trivia:
According to director Danny DeVito the first assembled cut of the film ran 3 hours and 4 minutes. It was then cut down to its final length of 1 hour and 56 minutes. Some of the deleted scenes (ca. 20 minutes) can be seen in the trailers and in the deleted scenes montage on the LaserDisc and the Special Edition DVD. moreGoofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At the estate auction at the beginning of the film, Oliver and Barbara bid against each other for the figurine of a woman. Oliver's auction book shows a photo with the caption, "Chinese Homunculus". The auctioneer then describes it as an "exquisite Japanese carving". moreQuotes:
Gavin: There are two dilemmas... that rattle the human skull. How do you hold onto someone who won't stay? And how do you get rid of someone who won't go? moreSoundtrack:
We Wish You A Merry Christmas moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (80 total)
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A classic feature of Danny DeVito's (far too few) works as a director is that they are utterly evil. Cruel. Wicked. Merciless to their characters and merciless to the viewer. Although this is often combined with slight exaggeration, it is exactly what I love about them.
After seeing The War of the Roses the second time after having grown a little older, I still feel that particular satisfaction. But this time, there are a few more things I think about, a few more questions I ask myself. For instance: who is the bad guy in the film? Who is `to blame'? And although it's clear that the Roses both have extremely unmoveable and stubborn characters, which partly leads to the catastrophe, I came to the conclusion that Barbara is the driving force of the whole divorce story. She announces her wish to divorce upon grounds that are not quite convincing. Maybe people who do not like Michael Douglas can sympathize with her but her reasons are not fair. She invariably follows her instinct without paying any respect to other people. Kathleen Turner portrays her most believably in this insufferable phase.
Oliver Rose, on the other hand, is one of those people who are proud of doing everything in a perfectly correct manner. He is therefore very sensitive and easily confronted if one doesn't acknowledge his correct behavior. He then becomes completely helpless and unable to react properly. That makes him an ideal `victim' to Barbara's striking egoism.
I'm mentioning this only because it is a new aspect I found during second viewing, and I am sure it was also DeVito's intention to develop characters like this, so for him, the turbulent divorce story is not just a parable on how stupid people are in general. He of course reserved the best role in the film for himself he is the wise man who tells the parable and who emerges victorious in the end.
The War of the Roses with its merciless cruelness remains one of my favourite comedies of all time.