MovieChat Forums > Intolerable Cruelty (2003) Discussion > Really bad movie

Really bad movie

posted 15 years ago by csnedeker
37 replies | jump to latest

I'm sorry, but this is a really bad movie. Some people think George Clooney has a flair for comedy, but I don't agree. He over-acts and is just annoying. I know we are supposed to love everything the Cohen brothers direct because they are so hip and cool and speak for their generation, but the movie is disjointed and shallow. I know the characters are supposed to be shallow, but the directors' disinterest in the movie is apparent.

Back to Clooney: if this were the first movie I ever saw him in, I wouldn't bother to see any other movies he made.

[–] superbolli 15 years ago

totally agree. when i saw this and the ladykillers i stopped watching coen films. I was deeply dissapointed and this was the end of their good films. But then again no country came out and I changed my mind. Looking forward to A Serious Man.

[–] ANDREWEHUNT 15 years ago

It is the worst of the Coen Brothers movies, IMHO. Not a terrible film, but it is not very good and it certainly can't compare with their classics like Miller's Crossing, Blood Simple, No Country For Old Men, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, etc.

[–] harlequinade17 15 years ago

I loved it, right after Big Lebowski and Burn After Reading it's my fav coen bros movie. The courtroom scenes were hilarious and I love George in comedies, Zeta Jones was pretty good too. The script was funny and witty, I loved how over the top and absurd some of the stuff was :D

"Ah da da dah, like this in the background. What the *beep* is it with you?"- Christian Bale

[–] twohundredproof 11 years ago

I'll allow it.

[–] m-slovak79 14 years ago

It [Intolerable Cruelty] is the worst of the Coen Brothers movies, IMHO.

ill disagree simply because 'A Serious Man' (4/10 tops) and 'The Hudsucker Proxy' (4/10 tops) are genuinely boring and boring is the worst thing a film can be in general. those two are definitely worse than this.

i also would say 'The Ladykillers' (6/10) is overall worse than this is to.

i give Intolerable Cruelty a solid 6/10. it was entertaining enough for a single viewing but it's not really a film i would go out of my way to see again which is ultimately why i gave it a 6/10.

but typically speaking most Coen Bro's films don't get less than a 7/10 from me and many get a 8/10 so basically Intolerable Cruelty is one of the weaker Coen Bro's films.

p.s. now that i just finished watching Intolerable Cruelty for the first (and only (lol)) time the only Coen Bro's film i had not seen is 'The Man Who Wasn't There'.

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[–] tstraton 14 years ago

The Coen Brothers strike again. The movie was funny and scary and great fun all the way through.

[–] maz89 12 years ago

ill disagree simply because 'A Serious Man' (4/10 tops) and 'The Hudsucker Proxy' (4/10 tops) are genuinely boring and boring is the worst thing a film can be in general. those two are definitely worse than this.

How anyone can find the genuinely moving, darkly comic A Serious Man and inspired, witty and heartfelt screwball comedy that is The Hudsucker Proxy actually inferior to this messy, exaggerated and often unfunny piece of sh-t is beyond me... unless that "anyone" is mslovak, of course. No offense, dude.

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

[–] Kari Hakkinen 14 years ago

Not the worst of the Coen Brothers movies, but the least of them.

[–] Napoleonforever 14 years ago

The elements for the arrangment of events( plot) were near perfect. The Casting was A+ list, like the principals or not. The parodies and humor was great, intertwined perfectly with the sequential storyline. The theme of romance threatened by the legal world is the conflict told in this movie, and I cannot recall a story told this well. I disagree that this is a bad movie; this is the Coen Brothers' underrated and unsung movie yet to date.

[–] blackisbeauty 14 years ago

Loved this movie and could watch it over and over again without getting bored, whatever the bashers out there are saying.

Only thing that sucked was the title. 'Sitting Duck' would have been much better.

[–] krj47 13 years ago

Yeah, this movie cracks me up and I've been divorced three times!!! (Glutton for punishment!) my kids and I often quote the movie, "let the record show that (he) is the SILLY MAN!"

[–] hatr 13 years ago

It's average, and I am surprised it rates above 5 on IMDB (I gave it 4).
Billy Bob and Geoffrey Rush adeed some flair but have a gold-digger and smug, manipulative lawyer as the central characters was a sure fire failure.

[–] rc-108 13 years ago

agree.

it gets a 4 from me..

[–] Six-Shooter 13 years ago

Who says the main characters have to be likable? It's not Disney.

The knack to flying lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.

[–] SagiY21 13 years ago

This is a very entertaining film.

And I loved both Clooney's & Zeta Jones' act.

If you state that you did not like the film you should give specific cases and examples of why that is, and where it could improve and to what it could improve.
Simply saying "I did not like [this] because it is bad" is not a good judgment to pass.
You should give constructive criticism instead.

[–] Napoleonforever 12 years ago

LOVED this film! I agree that it is the Coen Bros. underrated Gem!

[–] rkrainak 12 years ago

Wrong! This movie was a riot! I just watched part of it on Cinemax the day after I watched it after not seeing it for years!

What do you want in a comedy? The lines are great, they fly quickly...catch up!

[–] Xcalat3 12 years ago

I didn't like this AT ALL.

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] brupey-1 12 years ago

almost like Heath Ledger rises from his grave
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What are rabbiting on about, you stupid Pr.!cK

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] lambiepie-2 12 years ago

I'm with the folks who liked (not loved) this movie. It is really funny and Weezy Joe was one of the only parts I could have done without. This film was really dry and overblown and that's what worked for me. Clooney did very well as a shark attorney and I just love the scenes with the ancient firm head. It's not supposed to be a "this is it" but rather a metaphor on the names behind old partnerships and I cannot stop laughing every time I see t.

Zeta-Jones character and her friends are the epitome of "Gold diggers" and "man eaters". On the other side, men have Clooney and his firm that looks out to protect them as they have found a way to knock these women on their butts. Except when Clooney falls in love and forgets all he's done. It's a classic blurring of the extremes, and the black humor is dead on.

Okay, so it's not a fluid film, but many Cohen broth films aren't and this doesn't need to be a fluent film. It's a short-slap happy romp of 'who gets who', a lighthearted back slap on the entertainment industry, the law industry and gold diggers. I like it for what it is, "silly".

I went to Harvard too! Went past it last week!

[–] swc11 12 years ago

I thought it was a clever movie. I think Clooney's comedy sense though is a take or leave it type. Its quite dry but funny; maybe not haha funny but smile funny. His comedy is piss your pants funny though compared to the low brow comedy for idiots like: 3 Stooges, Napoleon Dynamite, Superbad or the Hangover.

[–] creaturefeeture 12 years ago

Clearly the overacting was on purpose and I personally found it to be hilarious, but I can see how someone would be annoyed by it.