FAQ

Divorce lawyer Gavin D'Amato (Danny DeVito) relates to one of his clients the story of another client, the Roses. Very much in love when they married some 20 years ago, Oliver Rose (Michael Douglas), a successful lawyer himself, worked hard to provide his wife Barbara (Kathleen Turner) with the house of her dreams. Over the years, however, Barbara's feelings of love changed to those of loathing and disgust, and she wanted a divorce, which is why Oliver consulted with Gavin. Gavin advised Oliver to remain in the house but live separately so that Barbara could not lay claim to the house or sell out everything from under him. Barbara did not want Oliver living there, so they began a campaign to force each other to move out. Then things got vicious.

The film is based on the 1981 novel The War of the Roses by American author Warren Adler. The novel was adapted for the movie by American screenwriter Michael J. Leeson.

No. At first hearing that Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas, and Danny DeVito, all three of whom successfully starred together in Romancing the Stone (1984) (1984) and The Jewel of the Nile (1985) (1985), were being united in this movie, many viewers assume that The War of the Roses is the third movie in the series. Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile follow the exploits of Joan Wilder (Turner), Jack Colten (Douglas), and Ralph (DeVito), whereas The War of the Roses tells the story of Barbara Rose (Turner), Oliver Rose (Douglas), and Gavin D'Amato (DeVito). It's the same actors, but different characters, and a different story. However, at that time Turner and Douglas were thought of as a modern day Tracy-Hepburn combination with the hope that they would continue to make movies together. But after this, Turner's career would take a rather dramatic downturn and this would be the last movie they made together.

It may be a mild wave to the English War of the Roses [1455-1485], which pitted the House of the Lancasters (red) against the House of the York (white) for the throne of England. Other than the name "Roses" and the clashes between the two, however, there is no relation.

It's a 1960 British-made Morgan Plus 4 (+4) roadster. Photo here.

No. She did so in the book, but it was too gruesome for the movie, which is why there's a quick shot of Bennie sitting in the bushes after the pâté scene.

Some, but not all. Although Turner really was a gymnast in her youth, she did not do the handstand in the beginning of the movie nor did she do the back flip in Gavin's office. Danny Devito makes this clear on the director's commentary. Turner and Douglas did, however, do all of the chandelier shots while suspended 30 feet above the ground.

Gavin finally arrives at the house, and he and Susan (Marianne Sägebrecht) head toward the front door only to notice through the window that Oliver and Barbara are trapped in the massive crystal chandelier. The bolts holding the chandelier to the ceiling have been loosened (thanks to Barbara), and the wires are starting to give way. Oliver screams, "Gavin, get a ladder!" He then assures Barbara that each of the two wires holding up the chandelier can hold at least 200 pounds, but he doesn't know that Barbara has also cut the wires. Slowly they begin to slip out of the fixture. By the time Gavin and Susan return with a ladder, the bolts have given way, and the chandelier has come crashing to the hard terrazzo floor below. Barbara and Oliver lie motionless on the floor, bits of shattered chandelier all around them. With his dying breath, Oliver stretches his hand toward Barbara and rests it on her shoulder. With her dying breath, Barbara places her hand over Oliver's and knocks it off her shoulder. Gavin and Susan bust through the front door with the ladder, but it is too late. Cut to Gavin's office where he has just finished relating the story to his client (Dan Castellaneta). "The moral," Gavin says, "other than dog people should marry dog people and cat people should marry cat people, [is that] a civilized divorce is a contradiction in terms." He advises his client to take a minute and try to find some shred of the love he once felt for the "sweetheart of [his] youth." In the final scene, the client leaves the office. Gavin tosses away his cigarette and phones his wife. "Comin' home," he says. "Love you."

One interpretation of this film is that it's a cautionary tale told by Gavin in order to test his client's mettle. The basic argument for the story being made up by Gavin is that he wasn't there through most of the war, so how does he know what happened in the house. Those who argue that the story is true admit that it might have been filtered through and embellished by Gavin's perception or that he might have, as Oliver's colleague, gotten the story through Oliver's eyes (or even from Susan, who was there through much of it). Other viewers wonder why a divorce attorney would even tell such a story to a potential client.