| | | Once in a lifetime comes a motion picture that makes you feel like falling in love again. This is not that movie.
Features: DVD
In this blackest of comedies, a perfect 18-year marriage suddenly becomes unglued and the gleefully evil Barbara (Kathleen Turner) and Oliver (Michael Douglas) Rose single-mindedly inflict as much misery as possible on each other. Rather than just get divorced, they declare war, fighting to the bitter end over their huge mansion and every possession in it. {Not even the calculating guidance of Oliver's lawyer (Danny DeVito) can stop this uncompromising twosome as their vicious battle sends them on an increasingly dark and dangerous path.
"A deliciously mean-spirited free-for-all... evilly enchanting." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"...a deliciously jaundiced perspective on matrimony..." Desson Howe, Washington Post
"...a black, bitter, unrelenting comedy, a war between the sexes..." Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"...this acid-dipped epic of revenge is killingly funny and dramatically daring. Turner and Douglas are terrific..." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Editor's Note
Danny DeVito directs this black comedy about a long-married couple in the throes of divorce at the height of the materialistic 1980s, and his second feature far surpasses his first effort, THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN, in style, substance, and comedic impact. Barbara and Oliver Rose were the perfect couple--he was a prominent Washington lawyer, she had a wildly successful catering business, they had a great house, great art, great cars and great kids. But when Barbara begins to wonder about life without Oliver, she likes what she sees and sues for divorce; unfortunately, neither of them likes the prospect of life without their opulent home, and war is waged to determine who will keep it. The pair become increasingly outlandish in their battle tactics, moving from cunning to cruel to outright surreal, and DeVito's camera echoes this mood with its unorthodox angles and movement. DeVito himself narrates the action as Oliver Rose's lawyer, and Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas prove once again their chemistry as a passionately antagonistic couple (ROMANCING THE STONE, JEWEL OF THE NILE).
Plot Summary
A black comedy about a wealthy couple embroiled in a bitter divorce. Oliver Rose is a successful lawyer; his wife Barbara has been a committed homemaker with a flair for interior decorating. Together they created a home that looks like something off the pages of "House Beautiful." But after their two kids grow up and leave home, Barbara decides that their perfect marriage isn't so perfect anymore and wants out. Unable to reach an agreement about who will keep the house and everything in it, the Roses become engaged in a vicious battle to the death over the possession of their material objects.
| Features | Digitally THX Mastered | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Access | | Storyboards | | Still Galleries | | Trailers & TV Spots | | Director's Commentary | | Deleted Scenes | | Computer Sketches | | Widescreen Version | | Audio: English & French Dolby Surround | | Subtitles: English, Spanish |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Foxvideo |
| Release Date: 5/9/2006 |
| Running Time: 116 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1989 | | Catalog ID: 2002339 | | UPC: 00024543023395 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
British Academy Awards (1991) | | | Michael Leeson, Nominee, Best Adapted Screenplay | |
Golden Globe (1990) | | | Michael Douglas, Nominee, Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture-Comedy/Musical | | | Kathleen Turner, Nominee, Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture-Comedy/Musical |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...A deliriously mean-spirited free-for-all....[Turner and Douglas are at their] comic best when being as awful as both are required to be here..." 12/08/1989 p.C16Los Angeles Times
"...Biting and vicious....It's also thoughtful, laceratingly funny and bravely true to its own black-and-blue comic vision..." 12/08/1989 p.C1 |
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