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SYNOPSIS:
Intolerable Cruelty is a romantic comedy that
takes a uniquely skewed look at the contemporary world of marriage
and divorce…and the lawyers who make it all happen. A
hilarious mix of high glamour and exaggerated fun, it brings
together in movie matrimony the high-powered filmmaking talents
of Academy Award ® winners Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind,
8 Mile) and Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (Fargo, O Brother, Where
Art Thou?) with two of the screen’s biggest and brightest
stars, George Clooney (Oceans Eleven, The Perfect Storm) and
Academy Award® winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago, Traffic).
Clooney portrays Miles Massey, a prominent Los
Angeles divorce attorney who has everything—and in some
cases, two of everything. Despite his impressive client list,
a formidable win record, the respect of his peers and an ironclad
contract (the “Massey pre-nup”) named after him,
he’s reached a crossroads in his life. Sated on success,
boredom has set in and he’s looking for new challenges.
All that changes when Miles meets his match in
the beautiful Marylin Rexroth (Zeta-Jones). Marylin is the soon-to-be
ex-wife of his client Rex Rexroth (Edward Herrman), a wealthy
real estate developer and philanderer. With the help of hard
charging private investigator, Gus Petch (Cedric the Entertainer),
she has Rex dead to rights and is looking forward to the financial
independence a successful divorce will bring. But thanks to
Miles’ considerable skills, she ends up with nothing.
Not to be outdone, Marylin schemes to get even
and as part of her plan, quickly marries oil tycoon Howard Doyle
(Oscar® winner Billy Bob Thornton). Miles and his almost
as high-powered associate, Wrigley (Paul Adelstein) unwittingly
dig themselves in deeper and deeper as they go head-to-head
with Marylin. Underhanded tactics, deceptions and an undeniable
attraction escalate as Marylin and Miles square off in this
classic battle of the sexes.
Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment
Present A Brian Grazer Production, In Association With Alphaville:
George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Intolerable Cruelty,
starring Geoffrey Rush, Cedric The Entertainer, Edward Herrmann,
Richard Jenkins and Billy Bob Thornton. The casting is by Ellen
Chenoweth. The music is by Carter Burwell. The costume designer
is Mary Zophres. The co-producers are John Cameron and James
Whitaker. The editor is Roderick Jaynes; the production designer
is Leslie McDonald; and the director of photography is Roger
Deakins A.S.C., B.S.C. The executive producers are James Jacks
and Sean Daniel. Intolerable Cruelty is produced by Ethan Coen
and Brian Grazer. The story is by Robert Ramsey & Matthew
Stone and John Romano, and the screenplay is by Robert Ramsey
& Matthew Stone and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen. It is directed
by Joel Coen.
THE CAST
| GEORGE CLOONEY |
Role: “Miles Massey” |
| CATHERINE ZETA-JONES |
Role: “Marylin” |
| GEOFFREY RUSH |
Role: “Donovan Donaly” |
| CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER |
Role: “Gus Petch” |
| EDWARD HERRMANN |
Role: “Rex Rexroth” |
| PAUL ADELSTEIN |
Role: “Wrigley” |
| RICHARD JENKINS |
Role: “Freddy Bender” |
| BILLY BOB THORNTON |
Role: “Howard D. Doyle” /"Doctor
Howard" |
| JULIA DUFFY |
Role: “Sarah Sorkin” |
| JONATHAN HADARY |
Role: “Baron Krauss Von Espy” |
| TOM ALDREDGE |
Role: “Herb Myerson” |
| IRWIN KEYES |
Role: “Wheezy Joe” |
| JACK KYLE |
Role: “Ollie Olerud” |
| STACEY TRAVIS |
Role: “Bonnie Donaly” |
| MIA COTTET |
Role: “Ramona Barcelona” |
| KIERSTEN WARREN |
Role: “Claire” |
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ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Joel Coen (Director / Screenwriter)
was honored by the Cannes International Film Festival in 2001
as Best Director for The Man Who Wasn’t There and in 1991
as Best Director for Barton Fink. In 1996, he was honored as Best
Director by The New York Film Critics Circle, the National Board
of Review and the BAFTA Awards for Fargo and also won the Academy
Awardâ for Best Original Screenplay for Fargo, which he
co-wrote with his brother Ethan. The screenplay for O Brother,
Where Art Thou?, also co-written with Ethan, was nominated for
a BAFTA Award and an Academyâ Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Other films he has directed and co-written are The Big Lebowski,
The Hudsucker Proxy, Miller’s Crossing, Raising Arizona
and Blood Simple.
Ethan Coen (Producer / Screenwriter) has produced and co-written
such critically acclaimed films as Miller’s Crossing, Barton
Fink (winner of the Palme d’Or, Best Director and Best Actor
Awards at the 1991 Cannes International Film Festival) and O Brother,
Where Art Thou? (which was nominated for two Academy Awardsâ,
four BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globe Awards). In 1996, one of
the year’s most honored films, Fargo (which he produced
and co-wrote) received four Academy Awardâ nominations and
won two, including Best Original Screenplay for Ethan and his
brother Joel. Among the other films he has co-written and produced
are Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, The Hudsucker Proxy, The Big
Lebowski and The Man Who Wasn’t There.
TRAILER AND OFFICIAL SITE
Official movie trailer:
Official US Site:
Official German Site, German title "Ein (un)möglicher
Härtefall":
German Trailer:
INTOLERABLE CRUELTY RUNS OUT OF COMPETITION AT
60. BIENNALE
 60th
Venice Film Festival
Venice - Wednesday, August 27th to Saturday, September
6th, 2003
The 60th Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica organized
by La Biennale di Venezia will take place from August 27th to
September 6th, 2003. The Festival is officially recognized by
the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations).
The Festival aims to encourage, in an atmosphere of freedom and
tolerance, the awareness and the promotion of all aspects of world
cinema as an art, as entertainment and as an industry. In addition
to sections on the left, the Festival program will include tributes
to outstanding personalities as well as retrospectives, as a contribution
to a better understanding of the history of cinema.
Information on ticket sales: tel. +39 041 27 28 398
Tickets
From 20th August until two days before each screening, it will
be possible to purchase a limited number of tickets on the BOX
OFFICE (Italy) website for the following screenings:
- Sala Grande at 10.00 am - 1.30 pm - 4.00 pm - 6.00 pm - 00.00
am
- PalaBNL at 1.00 pm - 3.30 pm - 5.30 pm - 8.30 pm
- Palagalileo at 7 pm.
It will be possibile to purchase tickets both the day before
the screening and the same day for all those open to the public
according to the program, at the following ticket offices:
Piazzale Casinò
PalaBNL
Palazzo Querini Dubois, seat of the Biennale, Campo San Polo 2004,
Venice
Are screenings open to the public?
The public has access to all films selected at the Mostra, even
if some screenings are reserved for the professionals. Tickets
and subscriptions at different prices will be available.
Screenings:
Sept. 2nd: 22:30 VENEZIA 60 (Press Screening)
Sept. 4th: PRESS INDUSTRY ACC.CIN 22:00 Sala Astra 1
Please
check the official website for screening updates.
No guarantee given for the Venice screening information provided
above.
EXTERNAL LINKS
Intolerable Crulety memory game ( many thx to Britta for contributing this link)
Nothing to win, just the game itself with lovely pics. Surf, go and gamble!
REVIEWS
Film Review: Intolerable Cruelty, posted on
Thu Sep 4,11:30 PM ET, by Jean Oppenheimer
VENICE (Hollywood Reporter) - 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 behind such irreverent and perverse comedies
as "Fargo" and "Raising Arizona" settled for
a broad farce that is long on manic, cartoonish behavior and short
on intelligence and wit. Given the palpable chemistry that exists
between stars George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones ,
this proves doubly disappointing.
A public accustomed to broad, undemanding Hollywood comedies
filled with sitcom characters and buffoonish situations may react
more kindly. Considering the star wattage here and the fact that
audiences are starved for a good romantic comedy, Universal can
expect a modest hit.
Clooney plays ace divorce attorney Miles Massey, whose killer
charm and underhanded tactics have won more cases for more clients
than any matrimonial lawyer in all of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills
included. But after years of nothing but success, Massey has gotten
bored. Something is missing from his life. At the very least,
he needs a new challenge.
Enter Marylin Rexroth (the devastatingly gorgeous Zeta-Jones),
about-to-be ex-wife of Massey's client Rex Rexroth (Edward Herrmann
). Thanks to caught-in-the-act photographs by private eye
Gus Petch (Cedric the Entertainer), Marylin has an ironclad case.
Or so she thinks. Massey uncovers some dirt on her, and she ends
up with zip.
Surprisingly, Marylin doesn't seem to hold a grudge against Massey;
she even goes to him to write a prenup for her next, very hasty
marriage to oil billionaire Howard Doyle (Billy Bob Thornton ).
Massey, who was smitten with the elegant, unflappable Marylin
the moment he laid eyes on her -- an attraction cemented when
they trade Shakespearean barbs over dinner (the film's only example
of witty repartee) -- tries to dissuade her from the marriage,
which she clearly means to abandon at the earliest, legally permissible
moment.
He fails, but when the inevitable happens and she leaves Doyle,
Miles is waiting, and the two run off to get married. It turns
out that the clever Marylin has a few tricks up her tastefully
tailored sleeve, however, and Massey, truly and hopelessly in
love for the first time in his life, is hung out to dry. He vows
his own revenge, and soon the two are engaged in their own rehash
of "Prizzi's Honor."
Clooney has the potential to be another Cary Grant , and
perhaps, given the right script and direction, he could succeed
-- think of Grant and Irene Dunne in one of the great romantic
comedies of all time, "The Awful Truth" -- but here
he becomes increasingly bug-eyed and goofy as the movie wears
on, as if he is playing Miles as another version of his character
in the Coens' "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" The script
doesn't help. Aside from a couple of very funny lines, the dialogue
is undistinguished, lacking the zing and wit that made the likes
of Preston Sturges and Noel Coward such a delight.
Known for much blacker and more perverse humor than that exhibited
here, director Joel Coen and producer Ethan Coen (who share screenwriting
credit with Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone) can be forgiven for
trying a more conventional type of film, but it's disappointing
to think they meant it to be quite this broad and generic. The
stereotypical slapstick of the opening scene, in which a TV hack
played by Geoffrey Rush catches his wife with the brawny
but brainless pool guy, is lazy and witless. Hermann as Marylin's
ex and Paul Adelstein as Massey's worshipful associate are an
embarrassment.
Amazingly, the audience at the Venice International Film Festival
laughed through much of the movie. Maybe viewers no longer require
a sharp script or incisive humor. George Cukor , Howard Hawks
and Billy Wilder must be turning over in their graves...
Intolerable Cruelty Review by Lee Marshall who
was in Venice, published on 04 September 2003
The Coen brothers paradox is simply stated: why have
critical plaudits and a substantial international fanbase never
translated into big box-office results? Fargo was praised to the
skies but performed disappointingly; while O Brother Where Art
Thou, the Coens’ best earner to date, did what it did thanks
largely to the casting of George Clooney and the infectious bluegrass
soundtrack. Clooney is back, paired with Catherine Zeta-Jones,
in Intolerable Cruelty, which finally trashes the paradox. This
is the Coen brothers’ big, commercial breakout movie: and
so it should be, in view of its estimated $60m budget.
An alimony farce about a successful Beverly Hills divorce lawyer
who finally meets his match, Intolerable Cruelty – the title,
a legal phrase, is one of the most common motivations for divorce
– was produced by Brian Grazer (The Nutty Professor, A Beautiful
Mind, 8 Mile). But this is no Hollywood sell-out for the Coens.
They push the romantic comedy genre about as far as it can go
in the direction of oddball satire without shafting the romance,
and the film may in fact turn out to be a little too witty and
hard-headed to warm up the sticks. However, to the great relief
of those who shelled out so much money to make it happen, the
co-stars gel magnificently, with Zeta-Jones’ glacial poise
and ferocious sense of purpose setting off, and being set off
by, the Clooney character’s glib bedside manner and overweening
vanity. Most of all, though, Intolerable Cruelty is continually,
and often hilariously, funny. It is The Lady Eve for the mobile
phone generation.
Clooney plays Miles Massey, a Beverly hills divorce lawyer who
is so successful he’s bored out of his mind. Though he is
the author of the most watertight pre-nuptial contract in the
business, Massey is short on challenges – until a wealthy
real estate developer, Rex Rexroth, signs him up to take on his
scheming but apparently untouchable wife Marylin (Zeta-Jones),
who has "nailed his ass" with video footage of a motel
infidelity. Massey wins it for Rexroth in a classic courtroom
scene full of kooky Coen characters and fast-paced wisecracks,
earning Marilyn’s undying animosity; though her payback
is complicated by the fact that the fires of love, or at the very
least lust, begin to smoulder between the two.
The film opens on Geoffrey Rush, who plays a scuzzy daytime TV
producer, yowling along to The Boxer in his open-top Merc (the
first of two great Simon and Garfunkel digs). Other memorable
supporting roles are those of Billy Bob Thornton as a humourless
and deeply stupid Texan oil tycoon; Jonathan Hadary as the poodle-toting
Baron Krauss von Espy; and Irwin Keyes as asthmatic hitman Wheezy
Joe, whose inhaler dependency provides one of the funniest visual
gags we are likely to see in a film this side of Christmas.
But it’s Clooney – bouncing back from the commercial
setbacks of Solaris and Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind –
who really steals the show in a performance which must rank as
his best to date. There is something of a parody of his own star
status in his account of Miles Massey as a gorgeous, self-regarding
bachelor with a clean teeth obsession and a bad case of ennui,
just as there is more than a nod at popular perceptions of Zeta
Jones’ off-screen persona in her characters’ combination
of stunning babe looks and cool, calculating ambition. Deakin’s
photography combines Hollywood gloss with moments of fish-eye-lens
kookiness; and the soundtrack is sufficiently catchy (the producers
have even splashed out on an Elvis track, Suspicious Minds). With
its A-league budget, Intolerable Cruelty was always going to be
a risk; but UIP should recoup. The desperately down-market Italian
title of this film – which translates as "First I marry
you, then I bankrupt you" is some indication of just how
broadly this intelligent comedy is being pitched. |
