Intolerable Cruelty

Reviewed by Demetrius Payne

for Reel Movie Critic

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Cast

George Clooney Catherine Zeta-Jones

Directed by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen. A romantic comedy. Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and brief violence. Running time: 100 minutes. In English.

The best movie of the fall has arrived!

George Clooney plays Miles Massey, a slick talking, well dressed and (very) bright smiling divorce attorney who looks at marriage not as the tragic dissolution of a sacred bond but an opportunity to make a financial killing. It's a formula that he has worked to perfection as well to financial success. As he goes along using any means necessary to amass victory after victory he always feels a void inside himself that all his gardeners, cars and tailored suits can't help him fill.

As is normally the case in life for every ying there is a yang and Miles Massey's yang is the vision, the muse known as Marylin Rexroth, as played by Zeta-Jones at her sultry best. Marylin is a skilled wife. By that I'm not saying that she's an exceptional mother, cook, or anything or the other "traditional wife traits", I mean she's just good at being or doing whatever she needs to plausibly come off as a devoted wife in court, you see that makes for bigger divorce settlements. She's been married so many times that her initials look like a roman numeral and while her eternal search for independence had lead her to nice collection of rings, cars and houses, she too longs for something else that she can't put her well-manicured finger on.

Not amazingly enough the two meet during a divorce proceeding in which Miles was the victor-big time. Marilyn being the competitor that she is can't stand for that so she goes to quite the extent to get her revenge. In the end, these two different, but extremely like-minded individuals come together and find what they have been looking for, love.

This movie is exceptional on all fronts. Its well written, well dressed, well lit, well scored but mostly VERY well acted. Watching Clooney & Zeta-Jones interact is like watching Magic Johnson & Larry Bird play one on one, or watching Zerena Williams play against her sister Venus. For a real good time at the movies, do yourself the favor and go see this extremely tolerable movie.