The War of the Roses (1989)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Danny DeVito

Writers (WGA):

Warren Adler (novel)
Michael Leeson (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 December 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Thriller

Tagline:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Divorce | Lawyer | Female Stockinged Foot | Cat Killed | Acrobat

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

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

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

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:16

Filming Locations:

119 Fremont Place, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Gracie Films

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.

Goofs:

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".

Quotes:

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?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Hearts Afire: Significant Others (#1.7)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

HE is HER victim

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.