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What’s the Story?

Reviewed by Nell Minow

INTOLERABLE CRUELTY centers on Miles Massey (George Clooney), a take-no-prisoners matrimonial lawyer able to persuade juries to give everything to even the most apparently guilty spouses. Wealthy Rex Rexroth (Edward Herrmann) is not just apparently but actually guilty of adultery. His wife Marilyn (Catherine Zeta Jones) has hired a private detective (Cedric the Entertainer) who filmed Rex at a motel with a girlfriend. Despite finding Marilyn the most enthralling woman he has even seen, Miles manages to win the day for Rex, leaving Marilyn with nothing. Marilyn finds another rich husband (Billy Bob Thornton) and goes to Miles to get the legendary "Massey pre-nup," an agreement to forego any claims on her new spouse's assets in a divorce. Realizing that Marilyn is up to something but not able to figure out what, Miles is utterly smitten. Before it is over, in classic romantic comedy fashion, everyone will be turned upside down. It is pitbull Miles who gets bitten, literally and figuratively. And Rex may be "nailed" by one video, but a very different video will nail Miles as well.

Is It Any Good?

4

The Coen brothers have produced their first all-out romantic comedy, and it's lots of fun to watch. The entire cast is magnificent, tossing off the Coen brothers' trademark corkscrew dialogue with just the right mix of understatement and deadly accuracy. It is an affectionate salute to the conventions of the classics -- it even has a spit take -- but it is contemporary enough for a Clarence Thomas joke and a rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" played on bagpipes.

Like the classic screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and other Coen movies, there are a bunch of colorful supporting characters, and Clooney and Zeta Jones turn in two of the finest comic performances in recent memory. Clooney owns his moment by the way he adjusts his cuff and cocks his head as he meets with his new client. Zeta Jones owns hers by walking down the stairs. Both are triple threats with impeccable comic timing, first-rate acting talent and all the movie star magic in the world as well, which keeps their characters both real and sizzlingly sexy.

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