Intolerable Cruelty

Intolerable Cruelty
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Joel Coen Ethan Coen (uncredited)
Produced by	Ethan Coen Joel Coen (uncredited)
Written by	Ethan Coen Joel Coen Robert Ramsay Matthew Stone John Romano
Starring	George Clooney Catherine Zeta-Jones Geoffrey Rush Cedric The Entertainer Edward Hermann Paul Adelstein Richard Jenkins and Billy Bob Thornton
Music by	Carter Burwell
Cinematography	Roger Deakins
Editing by	Roderick Jaynes
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	October 10, 2003
Running time	100 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$60,000,000

Intolerable Cruelty (2003) is a black comedy romance directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Cedric the Entertainer and Billy Bob Thornton. It was released by Universal Pictures.

Plot

This plot summary may be too long or overly detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (December 2008)

Donovan Donaly (Geoffrey Rush), a soap opera producer, comes home to find his wife, Bonnie (Stacey Travis), having an affair with a pool cleaner named Ollie (Jack Kyle). He brandishes a gun to shoot Ollie, but his wife stabs him in the rear with his own pointy Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award trophy. Ollie and Bonnie run away while Donovan shoots at them from a balcony, later taking pictures of them escape, and of his wounded behind as proof that his wife attacked him first.

Miles Massey (George Clooney) is the U.S.'s top divorce attorney, creator of the Massey Pre-Nup, a pre-nuptial agreement which has never been successfully challenged—meaning that no party to it can benefit financially in the event of a divorce. He becomes Bonnie's lawyer, assuring her he will win the divorce case and leave Donovan with nothing. During a trial hearing, he confides to his associate Wrigley (Paul Adelstein) that he is in the middle of a mid-life crisis, and is feeling bored with life. He compares himself with Attila the Hun, Ivan the Terrible, and Henry VIII, all of whom destroyed all their opponents. Miles has done everything, seen everything, bought everything; he is seeking the ultimate challenge.

Meanwhile, Rex Rexroth (Edward Herrmann) is having a role play session with a blonde temptress in a cheap motel when a private investigator named Gus Petch (Cedric The Entertainer) bursts into the room with a video camera and records everything. He brings the video to Rex's wife, Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who remains very calm and reveals that the video is her ticket to wealth and independence. Rex tries to talk to Marylin, but she sends her rottweilers to chase him off their property. Rex seeks counsel from Miles Massey, who assures him that, despite the video, he will win the divorce case. Marylin consults with her girlfriends, wealthy fellow serial divorcées, including Sarah Sorkin (Julia Duffy). She warns Marylin to beware of Miles Massey.

After Marylin and her lawyer, Freddy Bender (Richard Jenkins), fail to agree with Miles, Rex, and Wrigley on a divorce settlement, Miles asks Marylin to dinner where he decides that Marylin is the challenge he's been looking for. He hires Gus Petch to take pictures of her diary. Later, in divorce court, Miles exposes Marylin's calculating life by presenting a witness named Heinz, the Baron Krauss von Espy (Jonathan Hadary) who testifies that she asked him several years ago to find her a rich husband who could be easily manipulated. Because she winds up with nothing from the divorce, she swears revenge on Miles. She contacts Donovan Donaly, who is now living on the street, to help her. Herb Myerson (Tom Aldredge), Miles's boss, congratulates and praises him lavishly for his fine work.

Soon after, Marylin shows up at Miles's office with her new fiancé, an oil millionaire named Howard D. Doyle (Billy Bob Thornton). She signs the Massey Pre-Nup and invites Miles to their wedding. During the ceremony, Howard rips up the pre-nup and eats it in a flamboyant demonstration of his love. But not long after the wedding, Marylin divorces Howard and takes his money, making her a very rich woman.

Months pass. Marylin bumps into Miles at a convention of divorce attorneys in Las Vegas. They discover that they both are lonely people despite their wealth; she reveals that her best friend Sarah Sorkin has died from a peptic ulcer. Miles is besotted with Marylin and marries her on the spur of the moment. They sign the Massey Pre-nup, but Marylin tears it up. Miles has become a changed man and decides to abandon divorce suits in favor of pro-bono work in East Los Angeles. However, while celebrating this decision, Miles discovers that Howard D. Doyle is in fact an actor from one of Donaly's soap operas, and not really an oil millionaire. Marylin has no money of her own. Even her friend Sarah Sorkin is still alive. Marylin has thoroughly tricked Miles and now his wealth is exposed to Marilyn's asset stripping.

Miles' boss is most displeased with this turn of events and demands that something be done about it because she has humiliated their law firm. The boss then hires a hitman named Wheezy Joe (Irwin Keyes) to kill her under the assumed name of "Mr. Smith", but before the plan is completed, Miles learns that Marylin's ex-husband Rex Rexroth has died of a heart attack, bequeathing her millions. Miles now stands to benefit from a divorce, so he rushes out to stop the assassination. Meanwhile, Marylin, after arriving at the couple's new house, discovers Joe and easily perceives that he was sent to kill her. She offers to pay Joe double to instead kill "Mr. Smith" (Miles) and his boss. When Wheezy Joe meets Miles again, Miles sprays him in the face with Mace, causing him to mistake his gun for his Albuterol inhaler, shooting himself in the head. At the end, Miles and Marylin meet at a divorce attorney's office to hammer out a deal. Miles is still in love with Marylin and shows his trust in her by retroactively signing a pre-nuptial agreement. She tears it up, and they kiss and reconcile. Marylin tells Miles that she suggested to Donovan Donaly a TV show about divorce. The film ends as Gus Petch hosts the first episode of America's Funniest Divorce Videos.

Cast

Reception

The film currently holds a 75% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes

Soundtrack

Intolerable Cruelty is scored by Carter Burwell, in his tenth collaboration with the Coen Brothers.

The soundtrack album features a variety pop songs and cues from Burwell's score.

"The Boxer", first by Simon and Garfunkel and then by Colin Linden, opens and closes the album. A Canadian blues musician, Linden had previously participated in Down from the Mountain, a live performance of music from the Coens' O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and he performs several songs in the film.

Other songs include "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley, "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" by Édith Piaf and "Glory of Love" by Big Bill Broonzy.

Track listing

Tracks by Carter Burwell unless otherwise noted.

1. "The Boxer" (Simon and Garfunkel) – 5:09
2. "Intolerable Mambo – 1:41
3. "Suspicious Minds" (Elvis Presley) – 4:33
4. "Hanky Panky Choo Choo" – 2:07
5. "Don't Cry Out Loud" (Melissa Manchester) – 3:48
6. "Feels So Good" (Chuck Mangione) – 9:42
7. "You Fascinate Me" – 1:40
8. "April Come She Will" (written by Paul Simon, performed by Colin Linden) – 0:59
9. "Heather 2 Honeymoon" – 1:39
10. "If I Only Knew" (Tom Jones) – 4:18
11. "Love Is Good" – 3:26
12. "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" (Édith Piaf) – 2:21
13. "No More Working" – 3:01
14. "Fully Exposed" – 1:46
15. "Glory of Love" (Big Bill Broonzy) – 2:20
16. "The Boxer" (Colin Linden) – 2:20

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Intolerable Cruelty

• Official Site
• Intolerable Cruelty at the Internet Movie Database
• Intolerable Cruelty at Allmovie
• Intolerable Cruelty at Rotten Tomatoes
• Intolerable Cruelty at Metacritic
• Intolerable Cruelty at Box Office Mojo
• Intolerable Cruelty review by Cosmopolis
• Movie stills