Many of the reviews of Intolerable Cruelty have been lukewarm at best, but I have to passionately disagree. I think the elitist critics were expecting something else, a more offbeat and dark comedy they�re accustomed to getting from the Coen brothers� work.
Intolerable Cruelty is not dark, it�s not really that offbeat, but they done made a romantic comedy for the ages, with a few quirks that enhances the exceedingly fun movie teeming with style.
And really, that�s what you should be looking forward to in the first place, pulling for the flawed but impossibly attractive and charming Catherine Zeta-Jones and George Clooney, because they�re the best looking people in it and thus belong together.
Love need cause us no fear, but it sure could cause us to end up in the Poor House. Love�s a bitch, or you shouldn�t love a bitch. Either way, using Elvis� �Suspicious Minds� over the opening credits is truly fitting.
Clooney is a smarmy divorce lawyer (but I repeat myself) who spends all of his free time staring into mirrors, spoons, etc., to check his overly white teeth.
Catherine Zeta-Jones is on a Man Safari - hunting for a rich man to divorce and get his money, thinking this will bring her independence. As long as she lets me stare at her brown eyes for eternity, I would give her all of my money, too.
Of course, both Clooney and Zeta-Jones are bored and unfulfilled despite all their riches. Really, did I even need to say that? Is anyone with wealth on screen ever happy and skipping through 55-room mansions while whistling on their way to their personal bowling alley? No, they are all alone, spoiled yet jaded and melancholic.
Despite this discontent, Clooney and Zeta-Jones are full of personality, energy and so much chemistry any Bunsen burners around them explode. There�s real energy in their banter, and frankly, they�re gellin� like Magellan.
The pedigree of entertaining actors continues in support, such as Geoffrey Rush, who right off the bat discovers that women won�t be faithful just because you�re rich and drive a Jag. What?! That�s not true! I�ve been hornswaggled!
Enter Cedric the Entertainer (does his kid go by Cedric Jr. the Entertainer? The dog, Spot the Entertainer?), a private detective who doesn't exactly use clever tactics to find cheaters, busting in with a video camera and light shining on any infidelity.
Billy Bob Thornton shows up midway as a twangy Texas oil tycoon being duped by Zeta-Jones, and you believe it could happen, since this is a guy suckered into marriage by Angelina Jolie. (Some would say he suckered the sex-kitten, but I think she wooed him to gain credibility for her increasing eccentricity, which goes far beyond having a vile of Billy Bob�s blood around her neck, and hers around his.)
Of course, need I even say that in the end, love is good? Everyone�s exposed and happier for it, and the clever dialogue through wordplay, coming from people we�re genuinely keen on, makes Intolerable Cruelty altogether tolerable and anything but cruel.
Love (me). Honor (my recommendation). Obey (see this movie).
The verdict: