This was labelled as a comedy, but had no more jokes than any other film. I don't appreciate IMDb wasting my time by saying this is a comedy, I hope I save someone the time of watching this film if comedy is what they're looking for.The film was just about the rise and fall of the Roses' marriage and is as dull as it sounds. The divorce quickly becomes nasty. This movie might be handy for marriage counselling (well before any problems arise), but isn't useful as entertainment. The description misrepresents the film by only focusing on the divorce, since a large chunk of the movie occurs while they're happily together.Danny DeVito frequently appears, but rarely with any significance. His client in the office really doesn't say enough, it feels very artificial.The casting was good, as the pets and children at various ages blend gracefully.The directing was good.

The War of the Roses (1989) is so mean-spirited and dark that at times it's easy to forget it's a comedy. There are moments where it even feels heartbreaking. Much like The Great Gatsby, this is about the failure of the American Dream, how a happy couple is torn apart by the corruption of wealth and materialism.Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner have great chemistry as the quarreling couple. Danny DeVito is in top form behind and before the camera.The War of the Roses is an underrated gem and one which will likely reward repeat viewings.

This movie is about a married couple, Oliver and Barbara Rose, who discover that their marriage has been based on lies: for Barbara, that she never loved her husband, and for Oliver, that his wife loves him. For twenty years or so the situation in the Rose household is in a state of equilibrium. As a result, both protagonists can live their lives in a state of blissful denial - Barbara the dutiful wife and mother and Oliver the patriarchal bread winner and head of household. Things seem to going well for them and their marriage. Then one day things suddenly and abruptly change. During a dinner for Oliver's business partners at the Rose's home, a dinner, of course, prepared by Barbara, Oliver inadvertently humiliates Barbara which sets off a chain reaction of events that lead to tragic consequences, tragic because both of them are essentially good persons who don't deserve what's going to happen to them. Now feeling resentment, Barbara now gets in touch with her deeper feeling of inadequacy as a human being, the cause of which she attributes not to herself but to her overbearing husband, and as result she now hates him - and tells him that, straight to his face in the most unambiguous terms, including punching him hard on the face. Although slugged by his wife, Oliver still doesn't fully know what's hitting him. He does know that Barbara is upset but can't make heads or tails of it or take her seriously because, after all, she's his wife and, of course, she loves him. Soon it is impossible for the two of them to continue living together without denigrating each other. In an effort to eject Oliver from her life she starts her own business, which Oliver takes as a personal affront and a direct challenge to his role as the breadwinner, while Oliver, now angry and still perplexed, retaliates by belittling and humiliating Barbara in front of her customers. Tensions escalate after Barbara tells Oliver that she wants a divorce and is willing to waive alimony but wants to keep the house,and demands that he leave, based on the claim that the house was her's because she was the one who had done all the work to fix it up. Going against his lawyer's advice, the same lawyer (played by Danny DeVito in one of the great performances of his career) who had first advised Oliver that he had a legal right to stay in the house, advice which the lawyer later deeply regrets having given as it inflamed the situation and hurt his client, Oliver refuses to move out of the house and soon both are plotting on ways to force the other to leave. The fighting immediately turns violent with Barbara trying to run over Oliver with her ATV and repeatedly throwing heavy objects at Oliver's head and Oliver staggering around the house threatening to hit her with a large crow bar. Barbara is driven by her utter hatred for Oliver and Oliver by the hope that if he prevails then Barbara will come back to him. Both are now totally miserable. The movie ends on a tragic note, as both die,enemies to the bitter end. Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas play the protagonists. Mr. Douglas' performance is outstanding but this is Kathleen Turner's movie. Her performance has to rank as one of the greatest in cinema history.This movie is also an indictment of the legal profession as both Barbara and Oliver retain lawyers who, if anything, incite their clients thereby making matters worse. The lawyers are directly complicit in the disastrous events that ensue as both Barbara and Oliver believe that they have the law on their side.

I definitely wouldn't recommend this film. At all. I knew what the film was about beforehand but I didn't expect to see the same thing all the way through. There is a plot and there is a moral to the film. And whilst I understand the moral. The plot is pathetic. The film represents this moral in a really bad way. There seems to be almost no purpose to the film what so ever. If you're thinking to watch this film, don't.SPOILERS AHEAD: I don't get this film. It starts off okay almost like it's building up to something really good. It doesn't make sense that the couple are so violent with each other. I know it's a black comedy but still. It's not realistic in any way. I think the moral is decent but definitely could be presented in a better way.