War of the Roses (1989)

RATING:	80%
FORMAT:	DVD

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A frequently hilarious movie about a marriage on the rocks; showcasing the chemistry between the two leads. the divorce scenarios exemplifies the White way of divorce and the often high degree of acrimony that essentially comes down to blaming the other spouse and trying to quantify the relationship by trying to divvy-up the personal possessions of each.

Where this film fails is in not stressing the materialistic base of most modern Western marriages. It focuses on effects but never tarries long over causes. The childishness of the central characters, while funny, is never analyzed adequately nor is their inherent materialism - the basic cause of their troubles. It also has little say about what makes a marriage happy.

Moreover, the wonderful Marianne SAEGEBRECHT is wasted in a featured role that adds nothing to the themes explored. Kathleen TURNER is as superlatively glamorous as she is eloquently funny about the female genius for both love and revenge. ‘A civilized divorce is a contradiction in terms’.

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