JOEL COEN – GEORGE CLOONEY – INTOLERABLE CRUELTY – 2003
This is a comedy and nothing
else, but a comedy about the worst tragedy imaginable: the exploitation of
marriage by social climbing women who marry rich men only to divorce them later
with a very comfortable alimony or settlement, or even more and worse than
that: a fully naked stripping court order, the type of court order in which you
have to borrow a bath towel from the concierge or plain night warden to be able
to run to your taxi without being arrested.
Imagine one of the best divorce
attorneys in the field who destroys the claim of one of these ladies in court by
demonstrating, one key witness in the stand, that the lady is nothing but a
marriage bounty huntress, and then there he is falling in love with her, marrying
her on a whim, with the best pre-nup contract you can imagine, tearing it up
just after the wedding, confronting her for the divorce and falling in love
again in the confrontation in the lawyer’s office and this time she destroys the
pre-nup.
Don’t try to see anything subtle
or deep in that. Love is unpredictable and no one can live forever without love,
even someone as cold as the iceberg that sank the Titanic or as calculating as
a world class chess player. But I must say it is so funny to see all divorce
procedures, out of court or in court, ridiculed and being made fun of. It is
true that’s what they deserve. But even so, man, marriage is a sacred
institution, isn’t it?
But do not try to have nightmares
on such a film. That is absolutely impossible.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
# posted by Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU @ 12:58 PM