Dan Castellaneta is the actor who plays Homer Simpson. But in this movie, all he does is sit in Gavin's (Danny DeVito) office and listen to the story of what happened to Barbara and Oliver Rose (Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas).
Gavin is a divorce lawyer; he works at the same firm Oliver worked at. To be honest, Oliver and Barbara look like they have an okay marriage. Oliver might be a little condescending and controlling, but Barbara seems used to that. She's found a house that she's proud of making their own. She's started her own business. Everything might go along just fine. After all, they've been married for at least 17 years.
But when Oliver has what at first seems to be a heart attack, Barbara initially starts for the hospital but stops when she realizes that she's no longer in love with her husband. She actually hopes he will die.
This reminded me of something that Kate Chopin might write -- the classic "The Story of an Hour" moment, when a wife realizes that she's glad her husband has died, because his death means her freedom.
In this modern version. divorce is possible, and so when it turns out Oliver didn't have a heart attack and won't be dying, Barbara is honest and admits that she's no longer in love and wants a divorce.
The rest of the movie is how things play out. Everything is "framed" through Gavin telling their story to a prospective client who wants his own divorce. Before Gavin agrees to represent this man, he needs to tell him the Roses' story. Does he do this before taking on any divorce client? And if he makes $450/hour ($1200 in 2026 money), why would he want to drive clients away? After all, any divorce might suck, but none are going to be anything like the story Gavin tells.
Who is worse: Oliver or Barbara? Both are headstrong. Neither want to compromise. Their children don't really take sides and they're largely absent from the film. Neither seem to have any close friends. As I said, Oliver isn't really "mean" or "bad" to his wife, but when she wants the divorce, he is not willing to give up the house. Neither is she. That's the entire bone of contention.
What does the house represent? What makes it so impossible to part with? For Barbara, it represents her identity. Maybe it represents Barbara's identity for Oliver, too. In any case, both will die before giving up the house.
Danny DeVito directed this one. He directed six feature-length movies, beginning with Throw Mama from the Train (1987) and ending with Duplex (2003). For this movie, I noticed that he liked to use close-ups -- of eyes, mouths, etc. He would also shoot up a lot. Not exactly like Ozu in Tokyo Story, but that's what came to mind. Ozu more shoots scenes from floor level straight on, though. DeVito, as I say, starts the shot lower to the ground than normal and aims up.
At the end, Gavin admits that he doesn't know what the story he's telling means. It's just a cautionary tale. He tells his prospective client that he's not sure people are meant to stay together for life, but his parents did -- "for 63 years, and some of them were good."
The final scene, however, shows Gavin calling his, I assume, wife. He tells her that he's coming home and that he loves her. Perhaps Gavin has grown up and matured over time. He's not the same guy that went to a dinner party and brought a date with him that initiated inappropriate actions under the table -- the glass table, no less.
Didn't completely love this one; didn't hate it.
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