Not A Comedy`
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The War of the Roses
dondi_v — 11 years ago(September 28, 2014 12:48 AM)
I just rewatched the movie last week and have realized this film has been miscategorized for decades. It is not a comedy. Sure, Danny DeVito offers comic relief, and there are some laughs in the bickering and escalating one-uppances, but this film is actually a more serious, subtle and ultimately sad commentary on a doomed marriage.
And Kathleen Turner's hatred is palpable in that last scene when she brushes away Michael Douglas' hand. Still gave me a shiver more than twenty years after! -
dondi_v — 11 years ago(December 13, 2014 09:49 AM)
Yup, as you and everybody else has classified it
Black comedy is defined as an unusually humorous or satirical treatment of a taboo or serious subject, and maybe the classification for the movie was a reflection of its time. Today, I see it as hyperbolic but definitely non-sarcastic. -
LemonTastic — 11 years ago(December 14, 2014 04:05 AM)
I get it. You're one of those people who have to find a deeper meaning to a film.
This is a black comedy because it takes a serious subject, most times a dark subject, like this film a marriage breakdown, and adds some humour to the darkest parts. -
dondi_v — 11 years ago(December 14, 2014 05:15 PM)
Nah, unfortunately you dont.
I will give you your opinion that this is a black comedy, since you and mainstream media seem to think so (and as even I have said, an obvious reaction to a first viewing during its first release). But a recent screening has made me realize that this film is earnest (in the words of one
mainstream
review " so unremitting that we find we cannot laugh") and as such, tragic.
But seriously? " you are one of those people who have to find a deeper meaning to a film."? I find it a bit sad that while i thought we were having an intellectual debate here, picking each other's brains out, you felt the need to indulge in sarcasm, which, as defined by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, is the last refuge of modest people when their souls are invaded. -
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stanleyhetz — 9 years ago(January 25, 2017 11:11 PM)
I get it. You're one of those people who have to find a deeper meaning to a film.
This is a black comedy because it takes a serious subject, most times a dark subject, like this film a marriage breakdown, and adds some humour to the darkest parts. -
MELlSANDRE — 10 years ago(March 05, 2016 09:24 PM)
"Black comedy is defined as an unusually humorous or satirical treatment of a taboo or serious subject "
Hello?
The War of the Roses is a Black Comedy.
I do not have Attention Deficit Disor Ooooh, look at the bunny! -
daughterofolaf — 10 years ago(June 30, 2015 09:31 PM)
I have to agree that I do not see this as a comedy and I don't see it as black comedy either. There may be a couple of parts that are worth a chuckle but that's about all. This isn't reay a movie that I find easy to label but it sure doesn't fit under comedy or black comedy, in my book anyway. Towards the end it borders on being a horror movie, lol.
"It's Minnie Pearl's murder weapon." -
marilynnewman — 10 years ago(August 24, 2015 08:15 AM)
You mean like "The Loved One"? Or "The Abominable Dr. Phibes"?
I found both of those hysterical beyond belief. I haven't watched the "War of the Roses", but if it's a black comedy, they're some of my favorites. I'll have to give it a look.