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- 2003
- PG-13
- Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE)
- 1 h 40 m
- 2003
- PG-13
- Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE)
- 1 h 40 m
Summary A romantic comedy about a man who wins in court and a woman who courts to win. (Universal Pictures)
Directed By: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Written By: Robert Ramsey, Matthew Stone, John Romano, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
- 2003
- PG-13
- Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE)
- 1 h 40 m
- 2003
- PG-13
- Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE)
- 1 h 40 m
Intolerable Cruelty
71
6.7
Where to Watch
Summary A romantic comedy about a man who wins in court and a woman who courts to win. (Universal Pictures)
Directed By: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Written By: Robert Ramsey, Matthew Stone, John Romano, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 40 Critic Reviews
71
83% Positive
33 Reviews
33 Reviews
18% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 40 Critic Reviews
71
83% Positive
33 Reviews
33 Reviews
18% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Tight as a drum, glamorous and exquisitely funny, this one should earn them (Coens) enough cash to make five more offbeat minor masterpieces like "The Man Who Wasn't There" -- and the Coens deserve that as much as we do.
A work of gentle, continual hilarity that feels far more ordinary than other Coen works and yet has every bit of the originality and exactness that makes the brothers' best films so wonderful.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 85 User Ratings
6.7
58% Positive
49 Ratings
49 Ratings
36% Mixed
31 Ratings
31 Ratings
6% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 85 User Ratings
6.7
58% Positive
49 Ratings
49 Ratings
36% Mixed
31 Ratings
31 Ratings
6% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
This brilliant romantic comedy works in everything from the directing to the acting of the two main actors George Clooney and Catherine Z-Jones at the top of their game. This movie is a perfect homage to Preston Sturges' Hollywood premarital comedy and it's filled of Coen's dark humour.
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Zeta-Jones is merely ravishing, but Clooney owns the film. Ordinarily best at sardonic, man's-man confidence, he strides through Intolerable Cruelty with fantastic screwball zest. To see Clooney tenderize, season, grill, and serve this ham hock of a role is to see an old-fashioned virtuoso in perpetual motion.
Intolerable Cruelty is a romantic comedy, but it has enough dark, strange, and cynical moments to qualify as a full-fledged part of the Coen canon.
Has a solid farce structure, a bunch of ripe second bananas, and two sinfully attractive stars ready to raise comic hell. So why is a movie with so many genuine laughs and so many good bits only fitfully amusing? The short answer is that the Coen brothers seem to be incapable of trusting their material.
The glibness exhausts you, and the Coens are emotionally so far outside their subject that Intolerable Cruelty is finally no different from most of the other dumb slapstick spoofs that pass for screwball comedy these days.
The Coen brothers had a golden opportunity to make a darkly humorous, deliciously clever battle of the sexes, and they let it slip through their fingers. Instead, the duo... settled for a broad farce that is long on manic, cartoonish behavior and short on intelligence and wit.
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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It is safe to say that this film is not what I expected at all but it did have some elements that make it worthy of having a higher end score; those being George Clooney showing his comedic side and the addition of Catherine Zeta Jones. I would perhaps rate it slightly higher if I didn't get distracted half way though.
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Les frères Coen font beaucoup de films, peut-être même un peu trop... s'ils tentent toujours d'insufler leur humour particulier un brin grinçant dans leurs comédies (ou série avec Fargo), ils s'abîment fréquemment dans la gaudriole hystéro-bouffonne et une sorte de Vaudeville caricatural et maladroit.
Ainsi, cette "comédie" qui pédale dans la choucroute ne fait-elle pas décrocher la mâchoire sauf pour bailler : l'art de la caricature est délicat et ne saurait souffrir en effet un scénario écrit avec les pieds et deux mains gauches. En fait, un stagiaire aurait pu l'écrire tant les situations grotesques se succèdent et se surpassent dans l'invraisemblance et la bêtise.
La distribution s'adapte, elle si peu adaptée aux films de qualité, qu'elle n'a pas besoin de forcer pour sombrer dans les tréfonds de l'imbécillité lorsqu'elle leur est servie sur un plateau : Clowney le clown "what else" est déjà insignifiant comme poseur de pub, alors comme acteur, il ne vaut pas tripette. Il n'est qu'un bellâtre crétin très pénible ici. Quant à la femme de Michael Douglas, elle ne servait déjà à rien comme actrice et elle confirme qu'à part prendre soin de son bronzage, elle sert toujours à rien, même pour meubler.
Un film si affligeant qu'on n'arrive pas à le finir donc, comme un gros macgerbal dans une belle boîte, laquelle à peine ouverte, dévoile quelque chose de si peu engageant qu'on prend ses jambes à son cou. Qu'ils sont cruels les frères Coen pour infliger aux spectateurs une telle débilité ! honte à eux.
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Awards
Golden Trailer Awards
• 2 Nominations
Empire Awards, UK
• 1 Nomination
