Rating: 
Summary: Love it or hate it, Appreciate it!
Review: It'd be a little redundant at this point out this film is a black comedy. That'd be like stating that Scream is a horror movie. But what exactly makes War of the Roses so funny yet so bleak? In my opinion it's the same type of entertainment one gets from listening to really nasty juicy gossip. Like when your tech-ed teacher tells you why it's bad to get your hair or fingers too close to the sanding machines.
The film is narrated by DeVito, a lawyer retelling a tale he lived through when dealing with a once happily married couple... an especially materialistic married couple! So the entire movie switches from 'past' to 'present,' focusing mostly on the story of the soon to be unhappy lovers. After their so-called civil divorce, they are both determined to keep the dream house they both contributed to, and Oliver, the once husband, is determined to keep his former wife, Barbara, who can't stand him to the point of making them both miserable! From here, the story just gets crueler and more bizarre...
So if you're the type of person who likes to listen to stories where terrible things happen to ordinary and fallible people, if you watch car races to see a crash, or you laugh during the news, chances are you'll enjoy this movie, and other black comedies for that matter. If you like stories with resolve or warmth, or if you're an animal lover, you best stay clear of this unrelenting comedy classic.
So why four stars? Well, perhaps I just recognize that there are some people who will find this movie hysterical, and some who will just plain not find it funny at all.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, this is (almost) what it's like
Review: It's more a parody than a precise account of how marriages break down, but it's great fun nonetheless. Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner throw their all into their parts - different actors, and it might not have worked as a movie. The best part is probably the first half, as we see the couple accumulate more wealth than is good for them and their kids get too fat and they turn into poseurs with fancy French crystal and a right-hand drive English classic car. Then - bang! She wants a divorce. The movie gradually degenerates into farce, with Douglas pissing into Turner's gourmet cuisine and both of them ending up hanging from a chandelier. Not sure about Danny's part - he comes out looking a bit too cocky for a narrator.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific black comedy!
Review: It`s a delight to see Michael Douglas,Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito for the third time (all 3 started before in ROMANCING THE STONE and THE JEWEL OF THE NILE) in this winning black comedy about a marriage that disintergrates at high speed.To elaborate,the plot consists of Oliver and Barbara Rose(Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner)a couple determined to make the best out of life.They marry,have kids and buy a nice home.After some time,little arguments begin to turn into BIG trouble.They both agree on a divorce.But there`s just a little problem.BOTH of them want their luxurious house!The fights are farfetched and Oliver and Barbara are very stubborn and will stop at nothing to win the house.Grabs your attention from start to finish.surprising .Danny DeVito is perfect as the lawyer who defends Oliver during the battle.As a director,DeVito is simply terrific.He did an amazing job with THE WAR OF THE ROSES.Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner deliver excellent performances as well.Good job!Simply a winner!
Rating: 
Summary: Black Comedy at its best
Review: Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas star in this movie with a chemistry greater than either of their previous films together, namely Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile. Their shared screen time is filled with a frenzied mixture of passion, anger, lust, devotion, and resentment, a relationship that, however abstract and unrealistic it is skewed in this movie, reflects what's left of a lot of relationships once the lust leaves the marriage, or once a couple finally spends some time together (i.e. after the kids have left the nest).It has been a long standing joke that once the kids go to college or leave the nest, many spouses find themselves wondering: "Who the hell did I marry?" Things that were never noticed now are found nagging; a sensitive husband suddenly becomes controlling; a neat homemaker suddenly becomes obsessively compulsive; a mother, now that her duties are cut, becomes anxious to get out of the house. This is exactly what this movie relates, from the Roses' passionate meeting, to their years of "struggle" as Douglas' character builds his career to support his growing family, to their subsequent wealth and success, and finally a lull is reached when they are wealthy and suceessful, yet they have nowhere seemingly left to go. One of the things that a lot of viewers seemingly miss while watching the movie is the greater picture- the Rose's marriage was one built on attraction and lust. While that has been enough to sustain many marriages, this is not the case here. After the lust leaves the marriage the couple begins to notice every irritating thing the other half does, which is what happens in a lot of marriages. The difference here is that their personalities, both being uncompromising, ambitious, and, yes, more than a tad sadistic, cause Turner's and Douglas' characters to take things past the point where any realisic (i.e. amiable) seperation is possible. Perhaps it is just me, but if anything I find this movie to affirm marriage, as long as it takes place out of mutual love and respect, not just lust. Sure this movie delivers plenty of shock power and may leave you with a feeling of bitterness, but overall this, as Devito's character (a lawyer and the narrator) mentions, is a "cautionary tale." Keep that in mind and you will find yourself wriggling in your seat with laughter and shock from the onscreen antics as Douglas and Turner terrorize each other onscreen.
Rating:
Summary: A Complex, Dark Comedy, Yet Still Fun to Watch
Review: Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner light up this movie about a couple that falls out of love. Danny DeVito narrates, but his role as the lawyer that represented Oliver Rose during the divorce mostly serves as a frame to hold the main story, and that's for the best. The action begins with a man going to DeVito to begin divorce proceedings. The lawyer tries to convince him that a divorce isn't worth it, and begins narrating the story of the Roses. That's when the fun begins. It's difficult to call this a comedy, black or otherwise, despite the often-amusing scenes. It quickly becomes obvious that this is less a story about love or the lack of it and more of a struggle for power. All is well for this yuppie couple at first. Oliver (Douglas) is an extremely successful, up-and-coming businessman, and Barbara (Turner) lives the ultimate housewife's dream: she has a huge house, and nothing to do all day but decorate it-- and money isn't an object. If this seems like a sterotyped sex role, that's because it is. Things go downhill fast when Barbara realizes that she's not happy in the role that society, and her husband in particular, have forced her into. She searches for a way to make her life more fulfilling, much to her husband's dismay. Oliver quickly becomes a staunch defender of the status quo. When the divorce proceedings get sticky over a property issue-- Oliver claims it's his because his money paid for it and all of the furnishings inside, and Barbara points out that the decorations, furniture, and everything else that makes it a home were chosen by her-- the real fight ensues. It's telling that all of the blows struck by Barbara involve the breaking of sexual stereotypes, though it isn't clear that Barbara does this intentionally. For instance, she begins her own business, and runs over Oliver's sporty new car with her monstrous truck. The assaults begin with trying to hurt the other person, but devolve into attempts to get the other to capitulate-- right down to the final scene. This is one of those movies that has something new in it every time you watch it, and it always makes you think, but is still extremely enjoyable to watch. Probably one of the best movies I've ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: a wonderfully acted black comedy
Review: Reuniting for the third time, Danny Devito, Kathleen Turner, and Michael Douglas have really outdone themselves. This film presents a marriage gone awry and all its madcap developments in a unique and unpredictable way. Kathleen Turner, who can play dark comedy like nobody's business, gives the performance of her career here, going head to head with Michael Douglas (literally) in a fight to the death. The film takes us on a journey from the moment the couple first meets, through the raising of their children, and finally, through the crumbling of their marriage. Danny Devito, playing Douglas' divorce lawyer, uses the marriage and subsequent divorce of the Roses as the epitome of what ultimately "might happen" in a last ditch effort to convince future clients to reconcile with their spouses. A wild, hilarious, laugh-out-loud movie, replete with dazzling performances.
Rating:
Summary: Lancaster and York were never like this...
Review: That great schism in the English succession that was to found the Tudor Dynasty ...riddled with bloody battles, brutish machinations and intrigue as it was...fair pales in comparison to the hatred that emanates off of the screen as Mr. and Mrs.Rose join battle across the entrance hall of their beautiful home. Danny DeVito narrates (and Directs) us through the carnage of this marriage, and invites us to witness the decimation of their world. Truly tough going at times...and significantly failing to secure a happy ending for us to settle back on...The War of the Roses gives these three 'Stars' the opportunity to do their best work, and they deliver in earnest. Surly one of the most remarkable 'mainstream' films given that it is billed as a comedy, and elicits such audience involvement. If you do take sides, which is almost impossible not to...be prepared to have those allegiances tested regularly, and abandoned ultimately.
Rating:
Summary: The Nightmare Divorce: A Dark Comedy
Review: The 1989 film "War Of The Roses" was the product of Danny Devito who conceived the idea. He directed the film and it stars Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas. Their relationship in the film is nothing like their earlier partnership in Romancing The Stone. Here, the Roses are at war, in a modern parody of the historic British War Of The Roses, Tudors and Stuarts whose emblems were white and red roses. They are fabulously rich, they met traveling foreign lands and buying antiques. She's an experienced gymnist and he's a wealthy executive. Eventually, their love life and marriage falls apart and a divorce, long-lived and bitter, ensues. The entire film is about that terrible divorce. It's a bit of a downer for happily married couples but it's still an enjoyable film as far as social satire and dark comedy. It's not really possible for any couple to conduct their divorce in the spiteful, nasty way these two go at it. Michael Douglas ruins his wife's dinner party, runs over her cat, and later Douglas eats his own dog which she had made into dinner. Their fighting becomes an all-out war, enacted inside their million dollar estate. At one point, they are hanging for dear life on a chandelier. Danny DeVito plays the lawyer and he is delivering absolute comedy. Remember, DaVito was a great choice for comic roles. Does anyone remember his partnership with Arnold Schwartznegger in the movie Twins ??
Rating:
Summary: The Nightmare Divorce: A Dark Comedy
Review: The 1989 film "War Of The Roses" was the product of Danny Devito who conceived the idea. He directed the film and it stars Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas. Their relationship in the film is nothing like their earlier partnership in Romancing The Stone. Here, the Roses are at war, in a modern parody of the historic British War Of The Roses, Tudors and Stuarts whose emblems were white and red roses. They are fabulously rich, they met traveling foreign lands and buying antiques. She's an experienced gymnist and he's a wealthy executive. Eventually, their love life and marriage falls apart and a divorce, long-lived and bitter, ensues. The entire film is about that terrible divorce. It's a bit of a downer for happily married couples but it's still an enjoyable film as far as social satire and dark comedy. It's not really possible for any couple to conduct their divorce in the spiteful, nasty way these two go at it. Michael Douglas ruins his wife's dinner party, runs over her cat, and later Douglas eats his own dog which she had made into dinner. Their fighting becomes an all-out war, enacted inside their million dollar estate. At one point, they are hanging for dear life on a chandelier. Danny DeVito plays the lawyer and he is delivering absolute comedy. Remember, DaVito was a great choice for comic roles. Does anyone remember his partnership with Arnold Schwartznegger in the movie Twins ??
Rating:
Summary: Love hurts
Review: The best screen teaming of the '80's, being Danny DeVito, Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas are together once again to create one of the most bizarre films of the last decade or so. Michael Douglas stars as the ambitious lawyer with a beautiful wife and two chubby kids, but as time goes by his wife opens up her own business and the kids lose weight. And then she says that she wants a divorce, something which he can't seem to fathom. Going so far as asking if she's sleeping with a woman!
What starts out as something that happens to thousands of couples each year becomes a battle that Goliath would run from. The 'comedy' of this film stems from the battle they are wagering over the house. She wants 'the house and all of it's contents, except for your shaving gear, and, his clothing?' He says that he paid for the house and it's contents so it's his. That's when things turn truly ugly: he urinates over her fish course which she prepared to impress her clients, she destroys his imported English car, not to mention the fate of all those beautiful and priceless antiques that decorate the house.
The film's climax may stun a few people, but at the heart of this is a cautionary tale: love never lasts for ever. Well, not if lots of money is involved, it won't!
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