Intolerable Cruelty

When Hollywood’s finest get together to make a movie, you should be able to
expect . . . well, Hollywood’s finest!

With all the resources at their disposal and the vast anticipated audience, we could reasonably expect a quality piece of popular art. Most reviewers seem fairly satisfied with Intolerable Cruelty—four, or four-and-a-half stars have been handed out regularly.
OK, so what do Hollywood’s finest have to offer? In between the well-spaced humorous moments is a story of the triumph of love over greed and self-interest. It’s the story of two people who go beyond their desire for wealth and success to find . . . each other!
By now the violins are playing and we’re all feeling good about life, love and the pursuit of happiness. It’s all so beautiful! (This is the right moment, lads, to employ the classic “just-stretching-but-whoops-my-arm-ended-up-around-her-shoulders” move to remind her that you and George both know how to love a woman right!)
But back it up just a little. What kinda love is this that you’re givin’ me?
Shortly after George confesses the depth and significance of his new-found love to a roomful of stony-faced lawyers, his first reaction to finding he’s been cheated is to send a hit man around to kill Cath. While this might make for good comedy—in movie-land at least—it certainly doesn’t make for a long-term loving relationship!
Trust, it turns out, is the key to Cath and George living happily ever after.
But the only reason for them trusting each other is that they love each other and the only reason for them loving each other is . . .
“They just do all right! It was love at first sight, OK. Shut up and watch the movie!”
“Love at first sight? But she only married him for the money!”
“Well, George loved Cath at first sight anyway. Weren’t you paying attention?”
“But . . . how is trust such a big part of their relationship if it’s love at first sight? How can you trust someone if you don't know them?”
“Would you face the front and just watch the movie!”
“But that’s my point! If I just sit here and watch the movie and don’t think about what’s actually happening, I’m gonna end up with some crazy, unrealistic idea about what love is, and I’ll never figure out why my relationships aren’t like the ones in the movies where they all live happily-ever-after.”
“Well, Mr I’ve-got-to-analyse-everything, what do you think love’s meant to be like then?”
“Well, I know that love isn’t God, like it is in the movies—it’s the other way around.”
“Yeah, George and Cath did get it right with the trust thing, but there’s a bit more to it. Love has to do with things like being patient with the other person, and kind to them. People who love are optimistic for the other person and happy when good things happen for them. People who love aren’t selfish, jealous, arrogant or rude, and they don’t inflict intolerable cruelty on each other. Instead, they keep on loving.”
“That sounds like your version of something in the Bible . . . 1 Corinthians 13 or something? But here, this is just Hollywood—what can you expect?”