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Avg. Critic Score: 71 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 OK for kids 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 90
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    Something not seen in movie theaters for a long time: an intelligent, modern screwball comedy, a minor classic on the order of competent, fast-talking curve balls about deception and greed like Mitchell Leisen's "Easy Living" and Billy Wilder's "Major and the Minor." Read full review

  • 80
    Washington Post | Michael O'Sullivan

    It's over-the-top. It's wild. It's filled with outrageous behavior all around. Read full review

  • 75
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Near the end of this smart, speedy romantic farce, the comic engine hits a wall and sputters. Until then, this Coen brothers film -- easily their silliest -- is fueled by a screwball fizz that keeps the laughs popping. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Not brilliantly funny nor incisively clever, Intolerable Cruelty is still moderately satirical and laugh-out-loud enjoyable. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle |

    Too slick but amusing marital farce. Read full review

  • 70
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    So clever, so funny, so suavely entertaining that it comes as a shock to realize that it's not nearly as satisfying as all those qualities would lead you to believe. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | David Rooney

    A thoroughly entertaining comedy about love, lawyers and fat divorce settlements. While a slight imbalance in the romantic formula stops it just short of truly soaring, the crackling dialogue and buoyant wordplay make this a delightful throwback to classic screwball comedies. Read full review

  • 63
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    The movie has many scenes of delicious comedy, Clooney and Zeta-Jones play their characters perfectly in an imperfect screenplay. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter |

    The Coen brothers had a golden opportunity to make a darkly humorous, deliciously clever battle of the sexes, and they let it slip through their fingers. Instead, the duo... settled for a broad farce that is long on manic, cartoonish behavior and short on intelligence and wit. Read full review

  • 50
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    With Intolerable Cruelty, though, something scares me: I cannot detect a heartbeat of feeling, no matter how close I press a stethoscope against the star machinery of George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Read full review

View more reviews for Intolerable Cruelty on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 15+ Screwball comedy for older teens and adults.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this movie has some mature material for a PG-13, including adulterous situations and some mildly kinky sexual references (nothing explicit and no nudity). It has strong language for a PG-13. There is comic violence that includes guns and one character is killed. Families who have dealt with painful divorces may not find the depiction in this film very entertaining. Some viewers may be disturbed by a character who is very ill. The characters are greedy, manipulative, and unethical, all played for humor.
  • Families can talk about why independence was so important to Marilyn and why she thought that marrying a wealthy man was the only way she could achieve it.
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: The characters are greedy, manipulative, and unethical. Some racy humor.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Comic violence including shooting, character killed. Some viewers may be disturbed by a character who is very ill.
  • sex false3 Sex: Sexual references and situations, no nudity.
  • language false5 Language: Strong language for a PG-13.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Drinking and smoking.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Intolerable Cruelty Movie Ratings + Reviews

Fans say

So-so 27 fan reviews

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