Today's film is The Awful Truth, a romantic comedy starring Cary Grant. You already know my opinion on Cary Grant, which is not much. So let's talk about the film.
Grant plays Jerry, who is married to Lucy, played by Irene Dunn. After an argument, they decide to divorce. However, they try to sabotage each other's new relationships and then realize that they do want to stay married after all. The best way to a happy marriage is to find someone as weird as you are.
I understand that Jerry wants to get back with his ex, but he does it all wrong. He keeps going to her apartment on the pretense of seeing his dog, who by the way is the same dog from The Thin Man, but we all know he's going to see her. If I were divorced, the first thing I would do is change the locks. And he's there at all hours! Without knocking, just appears out of nowhere because he's "making a drink". Then when the country boy is flirting with Lucy, he hides behind the door and tickles her to distract her. Think about that for a minute and realize that that's actually pretty creepy. He's there all the time. Lucy never knows when he'll appear again. Behind a door? In her room? Fixing himself a drink? He could be hiding in the closet right now, watching her through the slats in the door.
Let's talk about Irene Dunn. It didn't feel to me like she was acting. It just felt like she was imitating Katherine Hepburn. Anyone can do an impression of someone (good or bad). But, her performance didn't seem genuine. She could have been legitimately funny if she was just being herself. But, she was imitating Hepburn's tone, inflection, laugh, poise, everything. I like Katharine Hepburn, but if I wanted to see her, then I want to see her, not someone imitating her.
Anyway, they get remarried as expected. This is like the third movie I've seen where Cary Grant's character is divorced and trying to win his wife back. How many times can they redo this story? I'm giving this a solid 5/10.
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