War of the Roses (1989). Photofest.
War of the Roses (1989). Photofest.
War of the Roses (1989). Photofest.
War of the Roses (1989). Photofest.
The War of the Roses
(Danny DeVito, US 1989, 116 min., 35mm)
Oliver (Michael Douglas) and Barbara (Kathleen Turner) Rose are a wealthy married couple, but any love they might have once felt for each other has now degenerated into bitter, mutual hatred and contempt. Their vicious divorce battle gradually turns into a matter of life and death, centered on a “dream home” that the couple has bought and renovated. This incredibly black, almost gothic, unromantic comedy works also as a proper cautionary tale—a fierce attack on the shallow, materialistic “values” of the upwardly mobile. Douglas is quietly brilliant, as usual, in this macabre twist on the chemistry he shared with Turner in Romancing the Stone (1984) and The Jewel of the Nile (1985).