"Vertigo" and "Rear Window." Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner play the Rose couple - two once-happily-married people who are now, after many years together, bitter and at the end of their frustration. Deciding upon a divorce, they begin to split apart; however, negotiations regarding belongings begin to go awry as Oliver Rose Douglas demands more from his wife, claiming it's his money that purchased their enormous house and all objects inside.DeVito turns in a performance as the narrator, and Oliver's lawyer, who tells us at the start we are about to watch a sad tale about divorce. By the time the film has ended we've seen events spiral totally out of control - beginning with absolute believability and ending in absolute absurdity.That's the crucial part of all this. Black comedy relies on whether the dramatic arc of the content - the leap from reality to lunacy - can be believable. Many times in DeVito's film, it isn't. "Smoochy," for example, was clever satire at first, and fairly reminiscent of real-life people and events; then it turned into an over-the-top revenge rampage."War of the Roses" is more careful, and the arc is subtler. It's believable because the characters are given such room to grow and their conflict blossoms throughout the picture.I'd classify "War of the Roses" as one of the funniest, cleverest and most underrated black comedies of the 1980s - it's one of my personal favorite movies and never fails to crack me up. A cult film? Maybe; but I think many more people would enjoy it if they gave it a chance.

the marriage, though never quite admitting it to the audience or himself.Overall, the War of the Roses remains a classic movie generally under-appreciated.

you can't help but feel for him. He seems to love his wife, despite his inability to accept her for who she truly is. This is truly a cautionary tale about both marriage and divorce.I wish that Danny DeVito would produce this kind of quality work on a yearly basis. The state of American cinema would be much better for it.

the Roses both have extremely unmoveable and stubborn characters, which partly leads to the catastrophe, I came to the conclusion that Barbara is the driving force of the whole divorce story. She announces her wish to divorce upon grounds that are not quite convincing. Maybe people who do not like Michael Douglas can sympathize with her but her reasons are not fair. She invariably follows her instinct without paying any respect to other people. Kathleen Turner portrays her most believably in this insufferable phase.Oliver Rose, on the other hand, is one of those people who are proud of doing everything in a perfectly correct manner. He is therefore very sensitive and easily confronted if one doesn't acknowledge his correct behavior. He then becomes completely helpless and unable to react properly. That makes him an ideal `victim' to Barbara's striking egoism. I'm mentioning this only because it is a new aspect I found during second viewing, and I am sure it was also DeVito's intention to develop characters like this, so for him, the turbulent divorce story is not just a parable on how stupid people are in general. He of course reserved the best role in the film for himself – he is the wise man who tells the parable and who emerges victorious in the end.The War of the Roses with its merciless cruelness remains one of my favourite comedies of all time.

From that point of view this is primarily a study of characters and a fascinating one too rather than anything else.Turner and Douglas wrap up a brilliant script and a sparkling dialogue with what seems to be considerable ease and an impressive attention to detail, no doubt guided along by De Vito, whose direction is firm and playful at the same time, and in many instances even inspiring - he gets the mood just right, the tone constantly on an uncomfortable edge between a mordantly funny comedy and an ugly human conflict. In fact, the whole length of the film film ticks exceptionally well - slowed here and there, possibly, by the lack of strength of secondary characters - Sagerbrecht is a bit uneasy in this, at least to my liking, and the kids are completely bypassed -the scenes involving them are perhaps the weakest. The ending moral finger-wagging given by De Vito's character is also a bit heavy handed - but then this is Hollywood after all. It could have easily been much worse, we could have been fed a happy ending, god forbid. Instead, De Vito calls his own sweet wife and says he's coming home. Well, I can live with that, although some European director would have just left Oliver and Barbara laying there smashed under the chandelier and that would have been it. But I shouldn't complain....Overall very funny and enjoyable. Check it out.

Barbara desperately want to get the house in their settlement. Unforturnately, they "both" get the house and try to avoid coming into contact verbal or physical with each other, which makes the situation worse.DeVito, who is the film's onscreen narrator and plays Gavin, a close friend of Oliver's, tries to be careful here in how to handle the ongoing spat that Rose gets into. He has made an intelligent movie here in letting the film take a very fine line between love and hate. Also, there a few hilarious scenes where Douglas adds a special flavor to a pot of cooking fish that Turner was going to serve a small group of guests and how the house becomes a warzone that's rigged with some unexpected surprises. Plus, the DeVito character defines the legal battle as "a love story".The performances are great and the photography by Stephen H. Burum "The Untouchables" is stylish and marvellous. This film was adapted from the novel written by Warren Adler.

summer and gets progressively darker, ending in the claustrophobic closeness of the nailed-up house. A classic black comedy for grownups. Don't watch this one with your spouse unless you are on really good terms.

black comedy.Turner and Douglas receive able support from a very funny Danny Devito, who also directed, and the wonderful Marianne Sagebrecht, who provides a gentle presence amidst the chaos.