Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
Wouldn't be a Coen film if it didn't work on more than one level; this film manages to be simultaneously both a sweet 'n' fluffy romantic comedy and a cynical, dark-hued examination of greed and heartlessness. Taking the ending in context, this is (despite the sugary sheen) one of the Coen's meanest movies, something like if Detour showed up in rom-com drag. Yet it's also one of their sunniest. I'm still trying to reconcile that apparent paradox. Thankfully, it's also extremely funny -- it starts out relatively conventional but gets stranger the longer it goes until by the end it resembles what would have happened if Preston Sturges had gotten into some bad acid. Puzzling, hilarious, compelling, well-acted, altogether extraordinary, really. Between this and Barton Fink, I get the feeling that the Coens don't much care for the Hollywood lifestyle...
Grade: A-
Wouldn't be a Coen film if it didn't work on more than one level; this film manages to be simultaneously both a sweet 'n' fluffy romantic comedy and a cynical, dark-hued examination of greed and heartlessness. Taking the ending in context, this is (despite the sugary sheen) one of the Coen's meanest movies, something like if Detour showed up in rom-com drag. Yet it's also one of their sunniest. I'm still trying to reconcile that apparent paradox. Thankfully, it's also extremely funny -- it starts out relatively conventional but gets stranger the longer it goes until by the end it resembles what would have happened if Preston Sturges had gotten into some bad acid. Puzzling, hilarious, compelling, well-acted, altogether extraordinary, really. Between this and Barton Fink, I get the feeling that the Coens don't much care for the Hollywood lifestyle...
Grade: A-
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