Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

This movie began with enough delightful quirks (Geoffrey Rush and George Clooney can almost do no wrong) that it caught my attention (on cable TV) and affection even before the credits showed it to be a Coen Bros. venue. While it is not up to their usual snuff for originality, this movie is full of enough twists and sendups that I would happily watch it again. Catherine Zeta-Jones is subtle as the spider eyeing fly after fly and all the satellite roles (Billy Bob Thornton, Cedric the Entertainer and the rest) were excellent. Not as hot as Russo and Brosnan in The Thomas Crowne Affair or as volatile as War of the Roses but mercifully more engaging than Law of Attraction. A few of the twists are either predictable or intractable -- you either see them coming or you can't figure out how they got there (for example, it's unclear for professional reasons why Clooney gets the hots for Zeta-Jones, although it's clear for every other reason in the book). So if you can deal with less-than-perfect plotting, here is a strong entry that people seem to either love or hate -- therefore those who hate it may do so because of their expectations rather than the content of the film itself. This movie skewers the cynicism of L.A.'s power-playing marital-prenup divorce gallery by exposing it in all its seaminess and promotes old-fashioned love and vulnerability for their own sake -- what more could a true romantic ask for? 4.5 stars.