“Intolerable Cruelty” is an unfortunate misfire

Two big stars, a great filmmaking duo and a promising-looking

trailer sounds like a surefire recipe for success, but somehow

“Intolerable Cruelty” still manages to be somewhat of a failure. It

is not a horrible film, yet it should have been so much better.

The film was made by the Coen brothers, who are responsible for

making fantastic films such as “Fargo,” “O Brother Where Art

Though” and “The Big Lebowski.” “Intolerable Cruelty” marks their

first foray into romantic comedy, and somehow it far from measures

up to their previous triumphs. Those other films were comedy

classics, whereas the comedy here seems bumbling and desperate.

George Clooney stars as Miles Massey, a successful divorce

attorney who finds himself falling for a money-hungry divorcee

played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. The two stars look great together

and that fact is pretty much the best thing the movie has going for

it. Zeta-Jones appears to actually be getting even hotter with age

and Clooney has charisma to spare.

What went wrong I am not sure, but scenes involving Miles’

elderly, handicapped senior partner with a colostomy bag definitely

didn’t help matters any.

The film does manage to provide a few quality moments from time

to time, especially a scene involving an asthma inhaler and a gun,

but there is not enough of them to save the film. Because the film

has such an impressive pedigree, it is very disappointing. It is

unfortunate to see a film with so much potential fail to live up to

it.

2 out of 4 rams