**1/2 (out of ****)
Starring George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Billy Bob Thornton, Geoffrey Rush, Cedric the Entertainer, Edward Hermann, Paul Adelstein, Richard Jenkins, Irwin Keyes, and Jonathan Hadary
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen & written by Robert Ramsey, Matthew Stone, John Romano, Ethan Coen, and Joel Coen
2003
100 min PG13
The heroes of “Intolerable Cruelty” are a gold-digger and a sleazebag divorce lawyer. In short, they’re both utter scum, and of course they fall in love. And I liked watching them. Sure, I didn’t “like” or “care” about them the way I “like” and “care” about my friends. But their shameless exploits are so, well, shameless, so uninhibited by any sense of morality, save the occasional wistful glance in which they surprise even themselves with their own sleaziness—I couldn’t help but be amused.
Problems emerge when their status as ruthless scum becomes shaky and they lean toward redeeming themselves. Would this kind of redemption work in, say, “Chicago,” if the murderesses genuinely repented? Would it work in “His Girl Friday” if Cary Grant and Theresa Russell decided to change their gonzo lifestyle? Probably not. Some movies—“About a Boy” and “Scent of a Woman” spring to mind—rise to the challenge of changing their lovable misanthropes into decent human beings. But “Intolerable Cruelty” doesn’t quite pull it off. It’s not that I care so much whether or not the change from sleaze to human being is believable or not, I just wish “Intolerable Cruelty” hadn’t lost its “zing” right about then.
The gold-digger is played by Catherine Zeta-Jones and George Clooney plays the lawyer. There’s a lot of Cary Grant in Clooney’s performance, but there’s also a lot of Clooney’s character from “O Brother Where Art Thou?” He’s the definition of a fast-talker, he moves in quick spurts like a bird, he blinks in a rubbery way, and he’s obsessed about keeping his teeth white. When we first meet him, he’s bored with how easily he can keep even the lousiest of spouses from having to pay a dime in a divorce. He owns too many cars, pays someone to buff his jet, and doesn’t even have to pay attention during what sounds like airtight testimony from his opponent’s witness. But he’s met his match in Zeta-Jones, whose poly-hyphenated last name (the character’s, not the actress’s) is a thing of beauty to him. They both play the same game, from opposite sides, and both are in a state of awe at the other’s prowess.
Clooney’s suits are as sharp as Zeta-Jones’ heels and they both spend a lot of time looking good. Really, it’s a joy to behold George Clooney sometimes; watch as he confronts Zeta-Jones with her motormouth oil tycoon fiancé (Billy Bob Thornton). Watch how fast his sycophantic expressions change as he gives himself a pep talk in a mirror. Watch how terrified he is of his firm’s elder statesman. It’s only when we’re supposed to start taking his feelings seriously that he seems adrift and “Intolerable Cruelty” loses some of its steam.
“Intolerable Cruelty” is the first film from writers-directors-producers Joel and Ethan Coen (“The Man Who Wasn’t There,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Raising Arizona,” “Fargo”) that has not completely satisfied me. Part of that is because the world of “Intolerable Cruelty” is simply not as a bizarre and off-kilter as the universe where we find all the other Coen Brothers’ movies. The Coens usually populate their movies, down to smallest part, with people who seem to have unknowingly wandered in from a Monty Python sketch. They are not only oblivious to how weird they are but no one else, except the protagonist, seems to notice either. Billy Bob Thornton’s uber-rich uber-redneck, who talks only in tangents, fits this mold, and there are some nice bits with Weezy Joe the Hitman and the practically fossilized elder lawyer. The movie’s pre-title sequences belongs to Geoffrey Rush as a playful cuckold. But elsewhere the goofiness is strangely diluted. I’m always saying how sequels shouldn’t be compared to their predecessors and adaptations shouldn’t be compared to books, so maybe I’m welching when I say “Intolerable Cruelty” needs more Coen-esque otherworldliness. So sue me.
Still, the movie has an awful lot of funny bits worth seeing. George Clooney plays the finest game of movie tennis I’ve ever seen (perhaps barring “Blow-Up”), Cedric the Entertainer makes a good private detective, and Zeta-Jones wears several dresses that make the whole world a better place. I liked that I got to hear the most Simon & Garfunkel this side of “The Graduate” and the title animation—vaguely reminiscent of Terry Gilliam—is sweet. You could do a lot worse than “Intolerable Cruelty.”
Finished December 1st, 2003
Copyright © 2003 Friday & Saturday Night
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