The Roses review

THE ROSES: 

CUMBERBATCH AND COLMAN GO SAVAGE IN OUTRAGEOUS UPDATE OF WAR OF THE ROSES! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman in The Roses

 

            Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, The Imitation Game, Marvel Cinematic Universe) and Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Mitchells VS the Machines, Paddington in Peru) join forces to bring a new update of Warren Adler’s novel, The War of the Roses to the screen in the black-comedy, The Roses. The film is directed by Jay Roach (Austin Powers trilogy, Meet the Parents, Dinner for Schmucks) and written by Tony McNamara (Poor Things) and is the second film adaptation of The War of the Roses following the 1989 movie version directed by Danny DeVito and starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. 

            I was sold on the trailer alone to which I was literally thinking the first time I saw it “Wait, is this another movie adaptation of The War of the Roses?” and lo and behold the title for the movie appeared onscreen right after I thought that followed by “Based on the Novel, The War of the Roses”. The 1989 version is an icon in dark comedy even right down to having a director who’s known for his dark, twisted sense of humor, but I was certainly interested in seeing what Roach, Cumberbatch, and Colman were going to do with the material, 

            While I certainly understand this movie might not be everyone’s cup of tea (No pun intended given the leads), I found The Roses hilarious. It probably won’t become a black-comedy classic like the 1989 film, but I laughed pretty frequently and much of it did come from Cumberbatch and Colman’s performances. 

            The film follows Ivy (Colman) and Theo Rose (Cumberbatch) who live the perfect life together, one’s a successful architect and another is an up-and-coming restauranter, a loving marriage, great kids, and a lovely house by the sea. But when Theo’s career goes downhill and Ivy starts taking off, a tinderbox of fierce competition and hidden resentment ignites as the two of them clash for everything they have. 

            The film also stars Andy Samberg (Hot Rod, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers) as Barry, Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live, Ghostbusters (2016), The Spy Who Dumped Me) as Amy, Allison Janney (Juno, I, Tonya, Another Simple Favor) as Eleanor, Belinda Bromilow (Doctor Doctor, The Great) as Janice, Sunita Mani (Mr. Robot, Evil Eye, Death of a Unicorn) as Jane, Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education, Doctor Who, Barbie) as Jeffrey, Jamie Demetriou (Fleabag, Cruella, Back in Action) as Rory, and Zoë Chao (Strangers, The Afterparty, Nightbitch) as Sally. 

            Overall, The Roses is arguably a mixed bag and your enjoyment of it will depend on your tolerance of very dark humor and over-the-top scenarios. For me, I can handle it and I had a blast with this movie. 

            While the film hits a lot of the same beats as the 1989 War of the Roses, it’s not a one-to-one remake of it as the bombastic war of said Roses isn’t until the last third with the rest of the movie building up to it. Also, this one does flesh out some of the details as to why the Roses started clashing at each other with Cumberbatch’s character’s once-successful career going downhill while Colman’s takes off so you kind of understand where it’s coming from, a form of jealousy over the other. 

            Following up Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner from the previous film is no easy task, but Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman’s comedic talents shine through and are easily the best part of the movie. Seeing these two sophisticated and celebrated British actors (One of which being a star on both stage and screen) going savage and unleashing their crazy sides is just fun to me and generate a ton of laughs throughout the film…we live in a world now where the guy from The Imitation Game grates a toe wart into his wife’s cooking, what a time to be alive. 

            Andy Samberg and Kate McKinnon also get some decent laughs as another married couple Cumberbatch and Colman’s characters are friends with though nowhere near as consistently funny as the stuff the Roses are doing. Allison Janney is hysterical as Ivy’s divorce lawyer though she isn’t nearly as prominent as Danny DeVito was in the earlier movie, she’s literally just in one scene despite her being the fourth person credited and shown on the film’s poster. 

            The Roses is a solid update on The War of the Roses that probably won’t be as remembered as the Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner version, but Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman’s surprisingly strong comedic timing and plenty of dark humor make it a demented good time in its own right. It’s easily Jay Roach’s best movie since Meet the Parents way back in 2000 and I will go to “War” with people over that statement if I must.