Truly Dreadful Film

Lack of good storyline.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn are at the top of their game(s). Standout performances by Judy Holliday and Tom Ewell (and an annoying one by David Wayne) also mark this George Cukor directed film. Jean Hagen also appears. Ruth Gordon's and Garson Kanin's story received an Oscar nomination. Added to the National Film Registry in 1992. #22 on AFI's 100 Funniest Movies list.Tracy and Hepburn are married lawyers who find themselves on opposite sides of a case. Tracy is trying to prosecute Holliday for trying to kill her straying husband Ewell, while Hepburn defends her (the double standard, and all). Wayne is friend of Hepburn's character who gets in the middle of the personal battle that develops between her and Tracy in parallel to their professional one.

Domestic and professional tensions mount when a husband (Spencer Tracy) and wife (Kate Hepburn) work as opposing lawyers in a case involving a woman who shot her husband. Kate Hepburn may be the worst actress who ever lived. She is definitely the most irritating actress who ever lived. But, despite this, the movie actually comes out rather entertaining. The gender war is interesting, and the equal rights idea never gets old (especially in a time before women were strongly in the work force beyond being war replacements).An odd thing, though, is how Hepburn's character (Amanda Bonner) seems to want to raise women up, but she comes down very hard on the woman who was breaking up a marriage. This seemed off. First, because it conflicts with the pro-woman theme. But second, it is the husband's responsibility to be faithful, not an outside party's role.

When I'm in the mood for a classic film, I usually look for something with Spencer Tracy in it. In an era where so many things were over the top and hard to follow, Tracy was a breath of fresh air, so very far ahead of his time. Adam's Rib is one of nine films he made with Katharine Hepburn, and is considered to be the best of the lot, I completely disagree. The film is ahead of it's time in that it's focused on woman's rights and asserts an affirmative defense for a violent crime, but the fact that it was a comedy, making light of a very serious charge, made the film lose credibility, and as a result, the message it was trying to portray does not come across very well at all. Doris Attinger (Judy Holliday) has caught her husband cheating and responded by shooting him. It seems an open and shut case for prosecuting attorney, Adam Bonner (Spencer Tracy), until his beautiful wife, Amanda (Katharine Hepburn) agrees to defend Mrs. Attinger. Her defense is an affirmative one, claiming that Doris Attinger should be acquitted, because a man arrested under similar circumstance would be. The claim is absolutely ridiculous even for 1949, because if anything, the justice system would have been harder on a man who shot his wife as opposed to her lover. Mrs. Bonner turns the trial into an absolute circus, embarrassing her husband, leading to an internal conflict in their marriage. This should have been where the comedy really came in, these fights between the two should have been hilarious, but they weren't. The couples fights were more serious, intense, and depressing than the trial itself. Everything about this film just seemed to be backwards and ridiculous, in particular Katharine Hepburn, who was so over the top in the courtroom, that it completely nullifies her argument. Here is a woman trying to stand up for woman's rights, by pulling ridiculous stunts and being unprofessional in the courtroom, how is that supposed to show that a woman can be just as good at her job as a man? The bottom line is that this film had a very serious message to spread, but everything was so backwards and misplaced, that it just loses any credibility it had, along with my interest about half way through. If Adam's Rib wasn't about a court case, and I wasn't waiting for the verdict, I probably wouldn't have sat through the whole thing.

What a pleasure it is to observe supreme artists doing what they're doing best, when they're in top shape! That's exactly what you get while watching _Adam's Rib_ -- a vehicle written specifically for the talents of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn (gloriously attractive, and showing off her slender waist, at 42 years of age) by their personal friends, no less fabulous screenwriters Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin. Add the light touch of master director George Cukor; add four delightfully competent performances by the four secondary cast members Judy Holliday (in her first big film role), Tom Ewell (hilarious and giving you a glimpse of what would come later in _The Seven Year Itch_), Jean Hagen (of _Singin' in the Rain_ fame) and David Wayne -- and what could possibly go wrong? Nothing. The script is extremely sophisticated -- it's truly an accomplishment when an actor can get the audience to laugh by uttering a single meaningful, forceful syllable in between extended periods of silence: "Once!", like Spencer Tracy does during one of his quarrels with Hepburn. Like all great comedies, _Adam's Rib_ is great in that it is not really a pure comedy; when you see Tracy flaring in anger against Hepburn, and vice versa, you can see that the characters' emotions and life convictions, behind the anger, are as real as in any dramatic film. Similarly, Judy Holliday gives a finely tuned performance as the abused wife; she is both funny to look at and pitiable at the same time. And, the final family reunion scene can warm the viewers' hearts like no pure comedy could if its only intention were just to go straight for the laughs. Yes, the battle of sexes may appear dated in 2012 when viewed in its late 1940s variety -- but the battle of sexes is ongoing as we speak, and so the movie still has a lot to say today. Very nice black-and-white cinematography, too, particularly in the New York street scenes; a beautifully captured period piece! _Adam's Rib_ is perhaps not the very pinnacle of artistic achievement, but it's definitely a prime exhibit of the Art of Comedy.