THE ROSES, a remake of the 1989 WAR OF THE ROSES (which itself was based on the 1981 Warren Adler novel), is a twisted little black comedy with as much bark as there is bite. When the film works, it’s hilarious… but when it doesn’t, it’s a bit of a slog. Thankfully, stellar lead performances from Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch anchor this all-too-familiar examination of the breakdown of a marriage and bring a healthy dose of humor to a pretty dark circumstance.
Theo (Cumberbatch) and Ivy (Colman) are a saccharinely sweet couple that have loved each other since the first night they met, are satisfied in their careers, and adore their beautiful children. But all of that changes when a tragedy disrupts the power dynamics of their relationship, leaving one spouse feeling lesser than the other. This conflict creates an ever-growing snowball of mistrust, resentment, and bitterness that quickly gives way to an avalanche of toxicity that seems impossible to recover from. But will the couple see the error in their ways before it’s too late?
Olivia Colman is the clear standout of the film (and any film, let’s be real). She is endearing, hilarious, and has an acerbic tone that makes up for the, at times, unrealistic dialogue. I honestly think she could have chemistry with a brick wall. Cumberbatch both benefits from this aura—making their love story believable—and also is at a disadvantage because who is really going to root for him when you have someone as charismatic as Colman.
Which brings me to my next point—the biggest issue with the film is that it struggles to make the conflict between Cumberbatch and Colman’s characters equivalent. Call me biased, but Theo was completely insufferable and, quite frankly, pretty unsympathetic when it came to his issues with Ivy. Yes, Ivy lets herself be overcome by the success she was seeing in her business, but I never thought she did enough to warrant Theo’s scorn. After all, she was the one who stepped up to the plate to make money while her husband didn’t have a job… all after a decade of sacrificing her own career to be at home with the kids. And because of that, Theo’s problems read more as jealous resentment than anything that I could actually feel sorry for. Maybe others will see it differently, but I think there needed to be a little bit more care taken to ensure both had equal issues in order to make this combative dynamic work.
There are some other obvious problems with the script. The most egregious of these issues is how the film jumps the metaphorical shark at the end, going so far off the rails it was hard to imagine how we would get to a place of resolution by the end. And while many of the jabs between the characters are funny, the script is written in a way that makes you abundantly aware that you are watching a movie. I kept thinking to myself, people don’t actually talk like this in real life. Lastly, it was pretty laughable that so much of the film hinged around the argument of Ivy versus Theo in who would stay home with the kids. All families are different, but the kids in question seemed more than mature enough to be able to succeed without a parent staying home. And at some point, with Ivy’s success, was there never a question about hiring a nanny?
I found THE ROSES fun enough, especially thanks to Colman; I would love to see her in more comedies like this because it proves she can light up the screen in any genre. But it’s certainly not a film you need to rush out to theaters to see. It didn’t add or explore anything new to make a remake worth it. But still, based on the highlights of hilarious banter, I would suggest giving it a watch when it’s inevitably added to Disney+ in a few months.
My Review: C+
