Customer Reviews
Watching this movie IS Intolerable Cruelty!!! - By: A. Lalor, 31 Jul 2008 
'Intolerable Cruelty' is a movie I've wanted to view for quite some time but for some reason or another every time I've gone to rent it another title has caught my eye & alas this movie has been put off for another day. Finallly getting to watch this movie last night has made me realise how lucky I was not to waste my money renting out this dull, overly long piece of trash & believe me that's what this movie is: rubbish.
Strangely the story itself is not necessarily terrible but a weak, clichéd script soon puts an abrupt end to any hopes of a tolerable yet alone good movie. Basicallly George Clooney is a successful divorce lawyer never known to fail a case. Catherine Zeta Jones is a charismatic social climber who hopes to marry wealthy men & then divorce them obtaining great wealth in the process. All this changes when her case is defeated by George culminating in a battle of the sexes. Need I say more? The script is pathetic, there are only a few good laughs & the odd witty one-liner.
The acting throughout is surprisingly weak despite the alll-star cast. The leads may be some of the most famous actors of the twenty-first century but this movie just proves that good-looking people cannot carry a movie on looks alone. All the actors had a tendency to speak incredibly quick & low, George Clooney's character was strangely annoying & Catherine Zeta Jones fails to make us empathise with her. Add to that a severe lack of chemistry between the leads & you have a disaster of a movie. Indeed the only remotely interesting thing about this movie was Jone's wardrobe but even that wasn't enough to keep the viewer interested. In fact I didn't even watch the final twenty minutes of this movie & believe me I am a person that likes to watch movies to the very end regardless of how unengaging they appear.
Overalll I would under no circumstances recommend this movie for any person. It is not romantic, not funny & not interesting or even original. If you still don't believe me & insist on seeing this film that will put you to sleep with it's monotonous tone watch it on tv. At least then you haven't wasted any of your hard-earned cash.
Top Billing but Average Film - By: Jay, 23 May 2007 
Top divorce attorney, Miles Massey (George Clooney) seems to have it alll. Serial gold-digger, Marilyn Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones) seems to want it alll.
When Miles fallls for Marilyn, the duo enter a battle of deceit & cunning, each trying to out do the other; & it escalates to a underhanded battle of the sexes.
Surprisingly Jones & Clooney do capture some on-screen chemistry & they have a witty enough script to keep the movie amusing, but there is nothing reallly special here, just some mild & inoffensive entertainment.
"Only love is in mind if the Masey is signed" - By: Sebastian Fernandez, 24 May 2005 
I have had very good experiences in the past with films by the Coen bothers, & if we add on top of this two good actors like Clooney & Zeta-Jones, this movie had alll the elements to be great. Sadly this is not the case, & I found myself watching a dull production that shows some occasional flashes of talent but that is overalll pretty boring.
Miles Massey (Clooney) is a divorce lawyer that does not hesitate when it is time to do everything he can to help his clients to get more money. He is swimming in it himself, but is going through a midlife crisis & gets bored easily. He has trouble finding anything that catches his attention; at least until he meets Marylin (Zeta-Jones). She is the wife of one of his clients & is looking to get every penny from her cheating husband & leave him in ruins. In an effort to win the case & save his client, Masey decides to court Marylin & get her to be a cheater too, thus evening the playing field. And that is where the fun is supposed to begin, but it reallly does not work out alll that well.
Clooney & Zeta-Jones do an OK job with the acting, but the script does not have the spark needed to make it reallly funny. The only real hilarious parts are the first scene in the film & one of the scenes featuring Cedric the Entertainer, who acts the part of a private investigator. The cast also includes Billy Bob Thornton who does his job proficiently in his role of a magnate from Texas. I sure hope the next production from the Coen brothers is better than this one...please!
The Title Says It All - By: D. Macgregor, 29 Mar 2005 Clearly the title was a reference to the suffering of the viewer.
This is a trite, predictable, unamusing, unbeleivable & overlong (by about 90 minutes) attempt to showcase Clooney & Zeta Jones. All to no avail.
hidden gems - By: , 09 Mar 2005 I watched this film with my foreign students as a class project. Upon closer study I realised that there a are a lot of hidden gems in this script & it becomes funnier the more you watch it. The plot is off the shelf but the cohen brothers have added their usual touch of lunatic genius by producing characyers such as Heinze the Baron Von Espy, Gus Petch & Wheezy Joe & this makes the film highly comical, watchable & just downright entertaining. Its not an intellectual masterpiece & it doesn't break any boundaries but it does exactly what it says on the tin. Its funny, its romantic, its entertaining!
The acting of Zeeta Jones is constrained but then there is little scope for her to improvise but she does a tolerable if not "memorable" job & provides excellent support for Clooney. The film is in fact more centered around Clooney's character & his little touches of neuroticism & insecurity (not something required in his usual roles) anre highly comical. The look on his face in the scene where Wheezy Joe confuses his inhaler with the gun is one of the most memorable in the film & produced side-splitting lauhs from the students!
In short a good alll rounder, stock up on films like this for when you are feeling blue & don't give it such a hard time for not being Fargo!
