The War of the Roses (1989)
Storyline
The Roses, Barbara and Oliver, live happily as a married couple. Then she starts to wonder what life would be like without Oliver, and likes what she sees. Both want to stay in the house, and so they begin a campaign to force each other to leave. In the middle of the fighting is D'Amato, the divorce lawyer. He gets to see how far both will go to get rid of the other, and boy do they go far.
Directors
Cast
Danny DeVito, David Wohl, Dan Castellaneta, Michael Douglas, Tony Crane, Roy Brocksmith, Sean Astin, Prince Hughes, Philip Perlman, Ellen Crawford, Kathleen Turner, Robert Harper, Peter Brocco, G. D. Spradlin, Peter Donat, Michael Adler, Peter Hansen, Susan Isaacs, Mary Fogarty, Marianne Sägebrecht, Heather Fairfield, Patricia Allison, Gloria Cromwell, Harlan Arnold, Rika Hofmann, Shirley Mitchell, Lisa Howard, Vickilyn Reynolds, Danitra Vance
Trailer
Reviews
100
Time
But it is the style with which this wild farce is developed that sustains our horrified interest and keeps us laughing as the darkness gathers around Barbara and Oliver. [11 Dec 1989]
90
Chicago Reader
A compellingly watchable, suspenseful, and often funny treatment of a grim subject--the hatred that can build up in a long-term marriage--that also becomes an indirect commentary on yuppie materialism.
90
Under the astute direction of Danny DeVito, who does a sly turn as Oliver's attorney, this acid-dipped epic of revenge is killingly funny and dramatically daring.
90
Los Angeles Times
Biting and vicious, a styptic pencil on the battered face of "civilized divorce." It's also thoughtful, laceratingly funny, and bravely true to its own black-and-blue comic vision. [8 Dec 1989]
83
Entertainment Weekly
DeVito doesn't hesitate to send the camera anywhere to goose the humor.
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