The battle of the sexes is taken to a new level once Miles Massey (Clooney) and Marylin Rexroth (Zeta-Jones) meet in a battle of the sexes on a personal and professional level in Intolerable Cruelty.
Cruelty follows Miles Massey, a prominent LA divorce attorney, who seems to be missing something from his life as he looks around and realizes, despite his professional success, boredom has set in and he needs a new challenge.
Just as this crisis seems to be at its boiling point in walks Marilyn Rexroth (the drop-dead gorgeous Zeta-Jones), a woman looking for financial independence through the process of serial matrimony and the soon-to-be ex-wife of Massey’s client Rex Rexroth (quite the tongue twister eh?).
Massey is immediately attracted to Marilyn, and begins his plotting and planning to win her heart as the two play a sordid game of tug-of-war where one is looking for financial independence and the other is looking for that additional challenge to make his life complete.
Cruelty is a semi-dark comedy developed in the minds of the Oscar-winning filmmakers Ethan Coen & Joel Coen (Fargo, O Brother, Where Art Thou?) that contains a stellar cast with names such as George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush, Cedric the Entertainer, and Billy Bob Thornton. With all that in mind it is a shame that just as with Miles Massey there is something missing in this production.
With Clooney and Zeta-Jones on the front-line it is disappointing that a production filled with so many names could falter, but it spells the downfall for Intolerable Cruelty when so many high profile names deserving of screen time end up stealing the show scene after scene.
Star power doesn’t stop at the actors as the acclaimed Coen brothers, who are known for much blacker comedy, tone it down for Intolerable Cruelty, which could be considered a light-hearted affair with hints of dark comedy beneath the veil. It is unfortunate because the end result leaves the film with several cliche moments and lackluster scenes that can only redeem any sense of quality due to the celebs involved.
As Marilyn parades from marriage to marriage you are left with scenes that become old and redundant making for a movie that is too long and at points toward the end I thought to myself, okay, this is the end, but sure enough it continued on.
Another chink in the armor is the Massey/Rexroth relationship as they appear to be such natural and perfect enemies that the idea of them ever getting together is too inconceivable to even suffice in the comic book created reality.
It isn’t for a lack of laughs or poor acting that makes the matrimonial war that is Intolerable Cruelty a lackluster production it is the light-hearted script doesn’t work for the Coens and the battle of the sexes that seems to continue to be a battle even once both sides have waived the white flag.
