(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
It has gradually become a cultural journalistic folk sport to define what were the basic constituents and essence of the 90s, and if it is in the film profession that you cheat then it will be a lot if you are not left with the Coen brothers (Ethan and Joel) and Quentin Tarantino high on the list.
These directors each realized in their own way the cliché of the postmodern eclectic expression, or so to speak; they borrowed from anything and everyone with a disrespectful, playful and distant relationship to genre and conventions. Tarantino with his violent Hong Kong and pulp pasties, the Coen brothers with reference-packed and elegant genre parodies, and this weekend they are back at the Norwegian cinema court for the enjoyment of a loyal following.
While at this time I shall leave Tarantinos Kill Bill sail their own sea of massive media publicity, it is with heavy heart I must note that the Coen brothers with Intolerable Cruelty is a conditional disappointment. Conditional because this is undoubtedly the best romantic comedy of the year, but still a disappointment because after all, there is no point in evaluating a Coen film on the same scale as others. Set up against its own production – with films like Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing, Fargo, The Big Lebowski og O Brother, Our Art Thou – one must be able to say that the directors here are sewn to have taken a somewhat non-energetic rest, and some of the reason is probably that they are for the first time as directors of a film that does not have its real origin in their own creative minds. There is no doubt that the brothers' script washing and direction are reflected in the film, but at the same time it is easy to see that this time they have clients behind them with large and efficient polishing machines. Here the edges are a little too round and the Coenic peculiarities and whimsical siding are not too prominent.
What's up Intolerable Cruelty so really about? Divorce and money and two experts in the field. George Clooney is the blasé divorce lawyer who eventually gets bored in the glory of his own success, but who definitely finds a new and in every way irresistible challenge in Catherine Zeta-Jones who knows that the gold awaits at the end of a new divorce. These are the necessary ingredients for a classic romantic comedy the two of them will wrap themselves in and out of each other's arms and claws while we sit and roar with excitement (really 90s ironic now) after finding out if they will get each other in the end.
A little disappointed though, there are moments of good old Coen brand in this movie too. Cloony in particular shines as a comedian in this setting, and it is still the case that a medium-sized Coen film is a class above most that come to guest Norwegian cinemas.
