After seeing the trailers for Intolerable Cruelty, I had assumed that the Coen brothers were moving in a different direction, it looked very much like your standard romantic comedy. But after just a couple of minutes into the film, after a raucous Geoffrey Rush discovers and starts shooting at the man having an affair with his wife, it becomes quite clear that this one is Coen through and through.

Miles Massey (George Clooney) is a successful divorce attorney who can get even the most guilty clients off the hook and is accustomed to not just winning, but destroying his competition – until he meets an equally ferocious foe in Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones). After he succeeds in ruining her attempt at pocketing her now divorced husband’s fortune, she sets out to exact revenge on the impenetrable Miles Massey while they both inevitably find themselves failing to win without the ultimate compromise.

In classic Coen style, their adventures lead them through a world of creepy hit-men, guitar playing priests, Scottish style Vegas weddings, and a TV show centered around nailing your spouse for infidelity. Cruelty never takes pauses to really take itself seriously and there succeeds in maintaining its farcical tone even in its slower moments.

George Clooney’s presentation of such a quirky personality is even more enjoyable here than in O, Brother Where Art Thou? and short but amusing parts from Geoffrey Rush, Billy Bob Thornton and Cedric the Entertainer keep you constantly laughing. The humor is also smart and frequently humorous only in retrospect. Add this to your traditional Coen strangeness that takes time to absorb and a classical array of incessant wit and wordplay, and Intolerable Cruelty becomes one that may get even funnier with repeat viewings.

Intolerable Cruelty is also romantic – granted, it’s that strange, perverted, Coen-esque sort of romantic, but romantic nonetheless. We didn’t need to hear Miles tell us he is fascinated by Marylin’s mystifying ability to succeed with her distorted, but clever approach on life; it becomes thoroughly evident in the utterly innocent obsession that comes from Miles’ outwardly corrupted though relentlessly endearing character. The strange but sincere attraction between the two is the most enchanting I’ve seen since Punch-Drunk Love.

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