Intolerable Cruelty (October 10/03)

Intolerable Cruelty marks the Coen brothers' most mainstream project to date, teaming them up with famed producer Brian Grazer. Among their fans, this was a source of worry; had the brothers abandoned their quirky sensibilities in favor of a more homogenized approach? But as it turns out, Intolerable Cruelty is almost a parody of a Coen brothers film, filled to the brim with the dark humor and oddball characters that have come to define their style.

Miles Massey (George Clooney) is a divorce attorney at the top of his game, having never lost a case. But when he meets Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta Jones), the soon-to-be ex-wife of a client, he finds himself experiencing something he's never felt before - love.

Intolerable Cruelty, much like another Coen comedy, The Big Lebowski, starts out great - it's funny and the actors are perfectly cast - but it eventually fizzles out. The movie works best during the scenes featuring Miles working the case, and interacting with the various characters in his life. Clooney does a fantastic job of portraying this admittedly one-note character, imbuing Miles with a fantastic sense of comedy. Even Cedric the Entertainer delivers a hilarious performance as a private eye, which is pretty impressive given how obnoxious he's been in other flicks.

But the movie eventually takes a dark turn that it's never quite able to recover from. It stops being about the characters, and more about the unexpected plot twists that the Coen's have become famous for. It's really a shame, too, considering how effective the first half is. And since the central characters are never developed beyond their most outward attributes, it's hard to care where the Coen's take them.

Still, there are some surprisingly funny moments and the performances are effectively broad - but it's just not enough to elevate this to anything more than a mildly engaging romp.