Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers (WGA):

Robert Ramsey (story) &
Matthew Stone (story) ...

Release Date:

10 October 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Crime

Tagline:

A romantic comedy with bite.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Divorce | Gold Digger | Battle Of The Sexes | Lawyer | Oil Tycoon

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Intolerable (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:12 (video rating) (2003) | UK:12A (original rating) | Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | France:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-7 | Germany:12 (bw) | Netherlands:MG6 | Norway:11 | Peru:PT | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | USA:PG-13 (No. 39509)

Filming Locations:

Caesar's Palace - 3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [Joel Coen] [Kubrick]The "beeping" sound effects of Herb's medical equipment are taken directly from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), specifically the radar sound effects of the Jupiter pods.

Goofs:

Continuity: While Miles and Marilyn are having dinner, Marilyn's hair in close up, especially on her right side, is hanging in front of her, but in profile it's hanging down her back.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fear of Clowns (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

The Glory of Love

Not intolerable, but…

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.