Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

A revenge-seeking gold digger marries a womanizing Beverly Hills lawyer with the intention of making a killing in the divorce.

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers:

Robert Ramsey (story), Matthew Stone (story),

Stars:

George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George Clooney	...	Miles
Catherine Zeta-Jones	...	Marylin
Geoffrey Rush	...	Donovan Donaly
Cedric the Entertainer	...	Gus Petch
Edward Herrmann	...	Rex Rexroth
Paul Adelstein	...	Wrigley
Richard Jenkins	...	Freddy Bender
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Howard D. Doyle
Julia Duffy	...	Sarah Sorkin
Jonathan Hadary	...	Heinz, the Baron Krauss von Espy
Tom Aldredge	...	Herb Myerson
Stacey Travis	...	Bonnie Donaly
Jack Kyle	...	Ollie Olerud
Irwin Keyes	...	Wheezy Joe
Judith Drake	...	Mrs. Gutman

Storyline

Miles Massey, a prominent Los Angeles divorce attorney has everything--and in some cases, two of everything. Despite his impressive client list, a formidable win record, the respect of his peers and an ironclad contract (the Massey pre-nup) named after him, he's reached a crossroads in his life. Sated on success, boredom has set in and he's looking for new challenges. All that changes when Miles meets his match in the devastating Marylin Rexroth. Marylin is the soon-to-be ex-wife of his client Rex Rexroth, a wealthy real estate developer and habitual philanderer. With the help of hard charging private investigator Gus Petch, she has Rex nailed and is looking forward to the financial independence a successful divorce will bring. But thanks to Miles' considerable skills, she ends up with nothing. Not to be outdone, Marylin schemes to get even and as part of her plan, quickly marries oil tycoon Howard Doyle. Miles and his unflappable associate, Wrigley, unwittingly dig themselves in ...

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Plot Keywords:

divorce | attorney | battle of the sexes | court | oil tycoon | 

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Taglines:

They can't keep their hands off each others assets.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and brief violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site U.I.P. France [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

10 October 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Intolerable

Filming Locations:

L'Orangerie - 903 North La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$138,555 (Japan) (16 April 2004)

Gross:

$537,646 (Japan) (16 April 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Alphaville Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Billy Bob Thornton speaks very fast in this movie because his character in The Man Who Wasn't There speaks very slowly. They did the same thing with Steve Buscemi in The Big Lebowski and Fargo

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Goofs

When Marilyn and Miles are at the restaurant her hair goes back and forth from behind her shoulders.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Donovan Donaly: [singing] I'm just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told.

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Crazy Credits

Adios SEÑOR GREAZER. Hello MISTER HAND.

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Connections

Referenced in The Reel Thing (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Suspicious Minds"
(1968)
Written by Francis Zambon (as Mark James)
Performed by Elvis Presley
Courtesy of The RCA Records Label, a unit of BMG Music
Under license from BMG Special Products, Inc.

User Reviews

Far from their best work with a few weak spots but still an enjoyable farce

Miles Massey is an amazing divorce lawyer who has a well-earned reputation. When he takes on the case of Rex Rexroth, who was caught on video cheating with another woman, he successfully wins the case and leaves the wronged wife, Marylin, with nothing. However he also falls for her, but she is planning his downfall in return for her losing everything she had.

With a big name pair of leads, it does look very much like the Coen's were looking for a big screen hit that would support their work to a greater extent than the loyal fan base does. As that sort of film, it seems to be doing OK, but, I wondered, at what cost to the product? The film starts well enough with an interesting case which we actually see little of, however the character of Miles is enough to hold the film together. The film contains the usual mix of larger than life characters and quirky humour, but the central romancing doesn't always hold true and there are stretches where the humour dips away to find that there is very little left without it.

Having said that, this doesn't occur often enough to be a problem and the film is still pretty good fun. The characters are it's making and there are enough of those to make it work. Clooney excels in the lead with a strange sort of humour - the same sort of character he played in "O Brother" if you ask me, but he does seem to have a touch for the comic stuff. Jones is less assured and her character has less of the humour I expect from the Coens and is more of a straight role. The support cast is all good as they provide small snippets of humour, whether it be Wheezy Joe or the rude waitress.

Overall it is not the cleverest film the Coen's have done, nor the funniest or most satisfying but, as a multiplex pleasing romance with quirky humour, it does work and should be enjoyed as that.