Intolerable Cruelty
Short description
Miles Massey is a successful Los Angeles divorce attorney whose client, a wealthy businessman, stands accused of infidelity. Marylin Rexroth, the client's wife, loses everything in the settlement because of Miles's skill in court. Rather than walk away, she turns her attention to him, and the two enter a contest of calculation and attraction that neither fully controls.
Intolerable Cruelty is a 2003 comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen, their tenth feature as directors, following The Man Who Wasn't There and preceding The Ladykillers. The brothers wrote the screenplay with Robert Ramsey, and Brian Grazer, Ethan Coen and John Cameron produced. George Clooney plays Miles, Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Marylin, and Geoffrey Rush, Cedric the Entertainer, Edward Herrmann and Paul Adelstein appear in supporting roles. The film runs 100 minutes.
Made for about 60 million dollars, it took in roughly 120 million worldwide, a solid return for a studio comedy of its period. Audience response was moderate: on IMDb it holds 6.3 from around 106,000 votes, and on TMDB 6 from about 1,700 votes. A critics' rating of 6.9 from 187 reviews places professional notices somewhat above the viewer scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- When Silky Joe shoots Miles (in his home) and his assistant Wrigley several times with a semi-automatic pistol, the spent cartridge casings do not eject from the gun, nor are they visible on the floor.
- At one point, the film's title, “Intolerable Cruelty,” was shortened to “Intolerable,” but was later restored to its full length.
- Jonathan Demme was originally credited as the director of the film.
- George Clooney was made a suit identical to the one worn by Cary Grant in "An Affair to Remember" (1958).
- Filming began in late June 2002, having been postponed from late 2001 to allow George Clooney to finish “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” (2002) and film “Solaris” (2002) in time. Filming wrapped in late September 2002.
- The project wandered around Hollywood studios for eight years before being taken up by Joel and Ethan Coen.
- The project was initially developed with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere in mind, but this idea was abandoned after their film “Runaway Bride” (1999). Later, Tea Leoni was considered for the lead female role, and Hugh Grant and Will Smith for the lead male role.
- Billy Bob Thornton's character intentionally speaks very quickly—in contrast to his own slow-talking character in 'The Man Who Wasn't There' (2001). The Coen brothers used a similar technique, having Steve Buscemi speak quickly and slowly in 'Fargo' (1995) and 'The Big Lebowski' (1998) respectively.
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