(This is one of a series about some of my favorite movies you probably didn’t get around to seeing)
I’m not a big fan of the “Romantic Comedy” genre largely because they are seldom romantic (in any real-world sense) and rarely funny. They’re also generally cliche-ridden, formulaic and simple-minded. OK, I think I’ve made myself clear.
“Intolerable Cruelty” (2003) is a great big exception to the above. For one thing, it’s a Coen Brothers movie. And it features Big-Time Movie Stars actually being very, very funny.
Roughly speaking, the movie is the uniquely “Coen” take on the legendary screwball comedies of the ‘40s. But that’s where any comparison ends, except that George Clooney’s performance ranks with Cary Grant’s in the legendary “His Girl Friday” for sheer comic brilliance. And it’s not a coincidence that Clooney’s other great comic role was in “Brother, Where Art Thou” — another Coen snark-fest.
In “Intolerable Cruelty,” Clooney plays a divorce attorney so good that he has a prenuptial agreement named after him. Catherine Zeta-Jones is a wily divorce-aholic who runs legal (and seductive) rings around him. Wonderful character actors Billy Bob Thornton, Richard Jenkins and Geoffrey Rush all have great scenes. Surprising twists abound — one might call them “intolerably cruel" if they weren’t so split-your-sides funny. Safe to say, if you don’t laugh all the way through, you might need a funny bone x-ray.