When Catherine Zeta-Jones began taking dance lessons at the age of four in her hometown of Swansea, Wales, she likely never imagined that one day she would be accepting an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress — and for her role in a musical, no less. That moment came in 2002, when she starred in Chicago alongside Richard Gere and Renée Zellweger, a performance that cemented her place among Hollywood’s elite.
The late 1990s and early 2000s were a golden era for Zeta-Jones. With over 40 film credits to her name, she gained international recognition with The Mask of Zorro (1998), opposite Antonio Banderas and Anthony Hopkins. From there, her career soared with standout roles in Entrapment (1999), Traffic (2000) — which earned her a Golden Globe nomination — High Fidelity (2000), and ultimately Chicago, which brought her Oscar gold.
During those years, every director wanted to work with her. She seamlessly moved between action films, romantic dramas, and comedies. In 2003, she was cast as the lead in Intolerable Cruelty, a romantic legal comedy directed by Joel Coen and co-written with his brother Ethan. Her romantic co-star? None other than the ever-charming George Clooney, with whom she would reunite a year later in Ocean’s Twelve.
Intolerable Cruelty introduces us to Miles Massey (Clooney), a successful Los Angeles divorce attorney looking for a new challenge. He meets Marylin (Zeta-Jones), a sharp and cunning woman with a talent for extracting fortunes from her divorces. She’s currently separating from one of Miles’s clients, Rex, and is determined to get everything she can. What follows is a battle of wits, full of scheming and manipulation — and a growing attraction between the two.
The chemistry between Clooney and Zeta-Jones was undeniable. In a joint promotional interview, when asked which of her male co-stars — Geoffrey Rush, Billy Bob Thornton, or Clooney — was the best kisser, Zeta-Jones didn’t hesitate: “George is really good at kissing, and we had to do it several times.” She added with a smile that Geoffrey Rush wasn’t bad either — though she “only kissed him once, and it was during a rehearsal.”
Available to stream on Movistar Plus+, Intolerable Cruelty was a box-office success, thanks to the irresistible charm of its two leads and the clever touch of the Coen brothers. It’s a classic romantic comedy: light, witty, and thoroughly enjoyable.
Why not give it a watch?
