The War of the Roses

Before catching the current "re-imagining", I wanted to revisit the original 1989 dark comedy, THE WAR OF THE ROSES. I remember enjoying it a lot in theaters opening weekend and observing as the Christmas audiences pushed back against it's jet black ending and final act.

I loved it. Still do.

But the path to get there is a lot more entertaining and hilarious then I remembered.

Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito were all blazing hot off their major box office success with "Romancing the Stone" and its sequel, "Jewel of the Nile".

For something completely different, they tacked this intelligent, challenging blend of farce and screwball comedy. Loaded with long monologues and truly despicable behavior from its stars, it's a long way from the summer popcorn of the Joan Wilder adventures.

Danny DeVito plays Gavin, the attorney who narrates the film, telling the story of Oliver and Barbara Rose to a silent man in a chair, who just happens to be played by Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson.

Gavin is Oliver's best friend, showing us in flashbacks how Oliver (Michael Douglas) and Barbara (Kathleen Turner) met in the waning days of summer in Nantucket.

They admire each other from across a room and fall quickly into bed and in love. Oliver is a focused, driven law student with aspirations to make partner. Barbara focuses 24/7 on building him the perfect home and the perfect family.

The blend of those two paths creates a hell of a lot of uncomfortable laughs.

With James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, Spanglish) producing and a team of pros in front of and behind the camera, it's a master class in black comedy, which I've always loved.

The laughs head to the next level as the film flashes forward and Barbara has finished their perfect mansion, stocked to the corners with the perfect knickknacks, sculptures and china from around the globe.

Oliver decides to host the partners of his law firm at their home. The dinner is a flawless sequence in writing, acting and editing, through the scene in bed later that evening. I laughed out loud multiple times in the scene, but never harder than when Barbara verbally escalates their argument by going hilariously profane.

What I didn't expect the first viewing was for Oliver to give into the humor of the moment as well, showing a spirit of reconciliation that will soon disappear completely.

Barbara decides to start her own business, Oliver focuses more and more on his work and the two eventually head toward a divorce.

But not just any divorce. This is the ugliest, most violent and heinous divorce in the history of split ups.

Michael Douglas has a field day playing against his usual likable hero, turning Oliver into a man who refuses to lose at any cost. When you're pissing into a cauldron of soup at a dinner party, you've pulled out all the stops.

Turner matches him stride for stride. Her Barbara knows no boundaries. Hilariously so. The dinner party she throws for her clients goes spectacularly wrong.

Oliver and Barbara devolve into two animals on a campaign of destruction with one focus: to get the other one to move out.

Studio execs begged DeVito to shoot a happy ending, which, of course, would have completely destroyed the tone and delivery of everything that came before it. They wanted that ending for foreign markets, which at the time, showed poor box office results for films with downbeat endings.

He was also forced to move the last shot of the dog to immediately after the pate scene. It originally sat after the end credits, which would have been even funnier and not served as a cop out to the cracker and pate scene.

The supporting cast is excellent, including a young Sean Astin (Rudy, Lord of the Rings) as the Rose's son, and legendary character actor G.D. Spradlin (The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now) as Barbara's divorce lawyer.

Sharp eyed viewers will know that this is the second time in film history that Douglas has sawed the heels off of Turner's shoes!

Funny, smart, and comedy of the jet black variety, THE WAR OF THE ROSES is just as enjoyable as it was when it first hit theaters. It gets an admiring A from me and recognition as one of AFI's nominees for the best 100 American Comedies of All-Time.

"When I watch you eat. When I see you asleep. When I look at you lately, I just want to smash your face in...."