There are screwball romantic comedies with lots of chemistry, snappy dialogue and tight pacing. Preston Sturgess usually had something to do with them, such as with "Sullivan's Travels" and "Dinner at Eight" and anything with William Powell and Myrna Loy exemplified the genre.
"The Awful Truth" ain't one of those films. The casting is serviceable, although Cary Grant (who has done this exact role 6,000 times before) isn't at his most sparkling here. The real faults are the script, which is long on clichés and short on actual wit, and the pacing which is uncomfortably long and with long passages of little or nothing going on. The story telegraphs every plot turn miles in advance, leaving the viewer with nothing but waiting for the inevitable to take place. I wanted to like it but I spent most of the film just waiting for it to end.
"The Awful Truth" ain't one of those films. The casting is serviceable, although Cary Grant (who has done this exact role 6,000 times before) isn't at his most sparkling here. The real faults are the script, which is long on clichés and short on actual wit, and the pacing which is uncomfortably long and with long passages of little or nothing going on. The story telegraphs every plot turn miles in advance, leaving the viewer with nothing but waiting for the inevitable to take place. I wanted to like it but I spent most of the film just waiting for it to end.