George Clooney is absolutely stunning in Intolerable Cruelty (review)

A comedy from the Coen brothers to watch again Sunday evening on Arte.

At the end of 2003, the brothers Coen released their tenth film, Intolerable crueltywith Catherine Zeta-Jones And George Clooney. Surrounded by their usual technical team (photographer Roger Deakins, Carter Burwell on the soundtrack…), they created a dark comedy about couples, well received upon its release – the film caused a sensation in Venice -, but a little forgotten 20 years later.

Ask around; if you mention the names of the two American filmmakers, you will be told about Fargoof The Big Lebowskiof No Country For Old Men orO Brotherwith the same actor, but certainly not firstIntolerable cruelty…

O’Brother causes a light and very pleasant euphoria (review)

However, at the moment, this tribute to “screwball comedies” of the 1940s had won over the public. In addition to its positive reviews, the film grossed $120 million at the box office and attracted 1.2 million spectators in France.

Here is our review, accompanied by an extract from the interview with its lead actress, met at the Mostra that year.

Catherine Zeta-Jones – Intolerable cruelty: “George has this relationship with the Coen brothers, and I envy him”

California, Schwarzy’s chosen land, is a strange state, and Hollywood is a faithless zone where the law is that of money. Hardly a caricature, Intolerable Cruelty shows men obsessed with power and women obsessed with profiting from them. In the paradise (hell?) of success at all costs, does love still have a place? Nothing is less certain, and the ending, in the form of a snub, maintains doubt. Contrary to its purely fierce and trashy comedy appearance (we think of The War of the Roses), the new Coen says as much about the new balance of power between men and women as the screwball comedies by Howard Hawks said about the american way of life from the 40s.

A guy’s film, Intolerable Cruelty is not very kind towards the weaker sex – in this regard, the place of women in the Coens’ work deserves an in-depth analysis. As much as the character of Miles has flaws that make him endearing, that of Marylin is an insensitive machine striving towards a single goal… Absolutely astonishing, George Clown-ey multiplies the facial expressions (brushing his teeth replaced that of his hair in O’Brother) while keeping its charm intact. The eternal comparison with Cary Grant is really the only one that is valid regarding him. Opposite him, Catherine Zeta-Jones demonstrates, after Couple of Stars, that she is very comfortable in self-deprecation.