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That makes him an ideal `victim' to Barbara's striking egoism. He then becomes completely helpless and unable to react properly. He is therefore very sensitive and easily confronted if one doesn't acknowledge his correct behavior. Oliver Rose, on the other hand, is one of those people who are proud of doing everything in a perfectly correct manner. Kathleen Turner portrays her most believably in this insufferable phase. She invariably follows her instinct without paying any respect to other people. Maybe people who do not like Michael Douglas can sympathize with her but her reasons are not fair. She announces her wish to divorce upon grounds that are not quite convincing. For instance: who is the bad guy in the film? Who is `to blame'? And although it's clear that 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. But this time, there are a few more things I think about, a few more questions I ask myself. After seeing The War of the Roses the second time after having grown a little older, I still feel that particular satisfaction.
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Although this is often combined with slight exaggeration, it is exactly what I love about them. Merciless to their characters and merciless to the viewer. A classic feature of Danny DeVito's (far too few) works as a director is that they are utterly evil.
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