why does intolerable cruelty always seem to catch so much flak? i thought it was hilarious. and even though i haven't seen them all, clooney seems to have been in a fairly large number of good movies and plenty with nominations and critical acclaim. not sure where this thread comes from.
It's not a bad movie at all, in my opinion. I think part of the reason a lot of people don't like it is because it was a Coen Bros movie, but not in its entirety. They only directed, but didn't write it, so the movie has a bit of a different feel from their others. Like I say, I didn't think it was great (like all their other movies) but I didn't think it was bad. It was really an expectations thing. It took far too long for someone to mention Out of Sight in this thread. That movie is freaking great. It made Jennifer Lopez tolerable as an actress, for god's sake! I love Clooney, in part because he is a good actor but also because with the way he started in the entertainment business, his career path could have taken a much simpler, boring but ultimately easier (for him) path if he had wanted. But he took the road less traveled more than most and has worked in some unique, interesting and sometimes brilliant films that many actors wouldn't have touched because they either didn't have the talent or didn't think it was worthwhile. Remember, coming off of television when he was a star on ER, he played the slightly jerky, roguishly handsome middle aged doctor that every middle aged housewife secretly (or not so secretly) wanted to get down and dirty with. The guy had charm to spare, good looks, and decent enough talent that he probably could have made a good, lucrative career out of doing rom-coms or straight up chick flicks. But he didn't. A guy who passes that kind of easy money and fame up to take chances on movies like O Brother, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Solaris, Good Night and Good Luck, Men Who Stare at Goats, Up in the Air among others is a guy I can't help but like. He's a credit to his profession and a true actor. I wish there were more like him.
Thanks for the validation. I really love that movie. The only time I've enjoyed a Jennifer Lopez performance. And the cast was top notch. Aside from the leads, you had Don Cheadle, Katherine Keener, Albert Brooks, Louis Guzman, Dennis Farina, Michael Keaton, Steve Zahn, Isiah Washington... And it has one of my all time favorite "prison" quotes: "Well, the man don't just have to die, Foley. I mean, he could accidentally hurt himself falling down on something real hard, you know? Like a shiv, or my d***? "
I've seen that flick at least 3 times! It's a riot, in my opinion. Clooney and Zeta-Jones are at the top of their game and have never looked better. The "problem" some folks have with it, I think, is that the satire and pathos are so out there, so over their heads, yet sophisticated, that they just don't "get it." That, and the title confused many thinking of seeing the film. Going by the title, it doesn't sound like a comedy, yet turns out to be one of the best comedies ever from the Coens and the two leads. And Zeta-Jones is so freakin' hot! Effortlessly exuding sexuality without having to be crass, or getting naked, here she was more like a sexy female lead in the 1930's. Actually, while your heart is in the right place regarding the script, it being "the Coen's first project based on someone else's idea," (the screenplay was originally written by Robert Ramsey and Matt Stone) it "was refashioned by them in the mid 1990s" by the Coens. In other words, for the first time they took an idea and a script that they liked from someone else, bought the rights, and rewrote it to deliver what they wanted. The Coens didn't simply make a film using someone else's script. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intolerable_Cruelty#Production I love the comment and couldn't agree more.
I won't add anything constructive to this discussion. Spoiler I don't know why, but I don't like him. He just annoys me for some reason. Same as Hugh Grant, Nicolas Cage, John Travolta and Tom Hanks.
