Runtime: 116 minutes
Directed by: Danny DeVito
Starring: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, DeVito, Sean Astin, Marianne Sagebrecht
From: 20th Century Fox
Another movie courtesy of messageboard discussion. Back in November someone discussed the few movies directed by Danny DeVito; he liked all of them. The Danny of today is baffling to me… bad commercials and the popularity of It’s Always Sunny will forever elude me. However, the Danny of the past I’ll always have fond memories of. Going w/ a comedy where the three stars of Romancing the Stone reunited seemed like a nice idea. In hindsight, seeing it at Christmas would have been idea; two scenes are set at that time of year.
And it was. I wasn’t expecting a movie so HORNY but the dark humor was expected. DeVito co-starred as a sleazy yet voice of reason lawyer who told in flashback the marriage then divorce of Mr. and Mrs. Rose. They had a steamy first encounter, then marriage, then there are a few time jumps and we arrive at the point where a marriage that has had its rocky moments disintegrates. So does their large, fancy home; it’s a messy, destructive divorce which, yes, includes an accidental cat death. Their formerly happy abode is the crux of the friction in the second half of the picture. The film escalates and becomes pitch-black in the final act.
In hindsight, some moments do echo what I understand was on Sunny. As several people on this platform noted, the final act is shot like a horror film. I was entertained by the dialogue, by the increasing absurdity, by the escalation, and even by how the leading trio were (at least at times) various shades of unlikable. The sharp script, the solid direction that had some creative camera angles and the cast do make it a pretty good time. The plot thankfully wasn’t so dark that I became turned off by all the toxic behavior and anger.
Viewing The War of the Roses did increase the desire to tackle more of DeVito in the director’s chair.
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