Intolerable Cruelty

This is by far Joel and Ethan Coen's most expensive film and also their first working from an existing script. That it turns out to be their weakest effort so far may not be unconnected. A slick, colourful screwball comedy (like their own Hudsucker Proxy without the period setting), it follows the quest of ultra-successful divorce lawyer Miles Massey (George Clooney) to marry professional gold-digger Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones) using his own cast-iron “pre-nup”. This being a Coen brothers film, it's populated with wonderful, often grotesque supporting characters including Edward Herrmann's philandering millionaire, Billy Bob Thornton's dozy oilman and Jonathan Hadary's eccentric trial witness. But when these turns distract from rather than add to the central plot, you're in dangerous territory. There are moments of inspired, slapstick brilliance (not least those featuring an asthmatic hitman), and Clooney works his socks off, but it lacks a hard centre and plot keeps racing ahead of character. It's neither as unhinged as their Raising Arizona nor as warm as Fargo; let's hope this is an isolated blip on the Coens' graph.

It's a comment on modern manners that a romantic comedy should involve a gold-digging woman and a cynical divorce lawyer, but there's stylish amusement to be found.