Intolerable Cruelty

Intolerable Cruelty
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Joel Coen Ethan Coen (uncredited)
Produced by	Brian Grazer Ethan Coen Joel Coen (uncredited)
Screenplay by	Robert Ramsay Matthew Stone Ethan Coen Joel Coen
Story by	Robert Ramsay Matthew Stone John Romano
Starring	George Clooney Catherine Zeta-Jones Geoffrey Rush Cedric The Entertainer Edward Herrmann Paul Adelstein Richard Jenkins Billy Bob Thornton
Music by	Carter Burwell
Cinematography	Roger Deakins
Editing by	Roderick Jaynes
Studio	Imagine Entertainment Alphaville Mike Zoss Productions
Distributed by	Universal Studios
Release date(s)	October 10, 2003 (2003-10-10)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$60 million
Box office	$120,217,409

Intolerable Cruelty is a 2003 romantic comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring Academy Award winners George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush and Billy Bob Thornton with Cedric the Entertainer. It was released by Universal Pictures.

Plot

Donovan Donaly (Geoffrey Rush), a soap opera producer, comes home unexpectedly early to find his wife Bonnie (Stacey Travis) with her ex-boyfriend, a pool cleaner named Ollie (Jack Kyle), even though the Donalys have no pool. Miles Massey (George Clooney), a top divorce attorney and the inventor of the "Massey Pre-nup", a completely foolproof prenuptial agreement, becomes Bonnie's lawyer. He is victorious in the divorce case, leaving Donovan with nothing. Meanwhile, Rex Rexroth (Edward Herrmann) is having a sexual roleplaying session with a blonde in a motel room when a private investigator named Gus Petch (Cedric The Entertainer) bursts in and records everything with a video camera. He takes the video to Rex's wife, Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who married Rex solely to obtain wealth and independence via a divorce. Rex hires Miles. Marylin learns from her friend, a wealthy fellow serial divorcée named Sarah Sorkin (Julia Duffy), that Miles is a dangerous opponent.

After Marylin and her lawyer, Freddy Bender (Richard Jenkins), fail to reach a settlement with Miles and Rex, Miles asks Marylin to dinner, where they spar. Miles hires Gus to steal some information for him. In court, Miles has a concierge named Heinz, the Baron Krauss von Espy (Jonathan Hadary) testify that Marylin asked him several years ago to find her a rich, easily-manipulated husband. As a result, Marylin winds up with nothing. Miles's aged boss, Herb Myerson (Tom Aldredge), congratulates Miles on his fine work. Marylin wants revenge and gets it with the help of broke soap producer Donaly, whom she finds living on the street clutching his Emmy statuette. Soon after, Marylin shows up at Miles's office with her new fiancé, an oil millionaire named Howard D. Doyle (Billy Bob Thornton). Though Marylin insists Doyle sign the Massey Prenup, he destroys it during the wedding as a demonstration of his love. A few months later, Marylin divorces Howard and receives the "Doyle Oil fortune".

Marylin later bumps into Miles in Las Vegas, where he is the keynote speaker at a convention of divorce attorneys. They discover that they both are lonely people despite their wealth. Miles marries her on the spur of the moment. He insists on signing the Massey Prenup to show that he is not doing it for her money, but she tears it up. He announces at the convention that he is abandoning divorce suits in favor of pro-bono work in East Los Angeles. However, Miles soon discovers that Howard D. Doyle is in fact just an actor from one of Donaly's soap operas. Marylin has tricked him and now his wealth is exposed to asset stripping. Miles' boss is most displeased with this turn of events and demands that something be done to save the firm's fearsome reputation. He refers Miles to a hitman named Wheezy Joe (Irwin Keyes). But when Miles learns that Marylin's ex-husband Rex has died of a heart attack, leaving her millions because he never changed his will, Miles rushes to save his wife. Marylin however is in no danger. Her rottweiler guard dogs have Wheezy Joe surrounded and she offers to pay him double to switch sides. When Miles and his assistant Wrigley arrive, they are confronted by the hit man. In the confusion of the ensuing struggle, Wheezy Joe mistakes his salbutamol inhaler for his gun and shoots himself in the head. Later, Miles and Marylin meet to negotiate their divorce. Miles pleads for a second chance and retroactively signs a Massey Pre-nup. She tears it up, and they kiss. Marylin tells Miles that she has suggested an idea to Donaly for a TV show, and Gus Petch becomes the host of America's Funniest Divorce Videos.

Cast

• George Clooney as Miles Massey
• Catherine Zeta-Jones as Marylin Hamilton Rexroth Doyle Massey
• Geoffrey Rush as Donovan Donaly
• Cedric the Entertainer as Gus Petch
• Edward Herrmann as Rex Rexroth
• Paul Adelstein as Wrigley
• Richard Jenkins as Freddy Bender
• Billy Bob Thornton as Howard D. Doyle
• Julia Duffy as Sarah Sorkin
• Jonathan Hadary as Heinz, the Baron Krauss von Espy
• Tom Aldredge as Herb Myerson
• Stacey Travis as Bonnie Donaly
• Isabell O'Connor as Judge Marva Munson
• Irwin Keyes as Wheezy Joe
• Colin Linden as Father Scot
• Kiersten Warren as Claire O'Mara

Production

Intolerable Cruelty is the Coens' first project based on someone else's idea. The screenplay written by Robert Ramsey and Matt Stone was refashioned by them in the mid 1990s. Initially the screenplay was attached to Ron Howard and then Jonathan Demme, who had planned to cast Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in the lead roles. After their planned film of James Dickey's novel To The White Sea fell through, the Coens signed on to direct.

Reception

The film currently holds a 75% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It also has an average rating of 71 on review aggregator Metacritic. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.

Soundtrack

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Intolerable Cruelty
Soundtrack album by Carter Burwell and various artists
Released	October 7, 2003
Genre	Film score pop, blues
Length	50:50
Label	Hip-O
Professional reviews
The reviews parameter has been deprecated. Please move reviews into the “Reception” section of the article. See Moving reviews into article space. Allmusic link Movie Music UK SoundtrackNet
Coen Brothers film soundtracks chronology
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) Intolerable Cruelty (2003) The Ladykillers (2004)

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 as covered 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.

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

• Official website
• Intolerable Cruelty at the Internet Movie Database
• Intolerable Cruelty at AllRovi
• Intolerable Cruelty at Box Office Mojo
• Intolerable Cruelty at Rotten Tomatoes
• Intolerable Cruelty at Metacritic