The Roses: Entertaining Chaos That Lacks Bite

The Roses is a remake of The War of the Roses, the classic 1989 dark comedy and an adaptation of Warren Adler’s 1981 book of the same name, starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito. This new version, directed by Jay Roach and written by Academy award winner Tony McNamara, features a mighty impressive ensemble cast consisting of Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, and Andy Samberg just to name a few. This time around, life seems easy for picture perfect couple Ivy (Colman) and Theo Rose (Cumberbatch), each with successful careers, a loving marriage, and great kids. However, beneath the façade of their supposed ideal life laid a simmering powder keg that is finally set off once Theo’s career takes a sudden nosedive, while Ivy’s own ambitions take off.

The Roses is a fine remake that with undoubtedly hit the right spot with audiences, despite the fact that it lacks the bite of the original, opting to play things far too safe. In the end, Cumberbatch and Colman are a large reason why the film is as successful as it is. The pair are wonderful, and have excellent chemistry together. They make for such a wholesome couple at first, but their performances truly come to life when exchanging digs and going for each other’s throats the longer the film goes on. Meanwhile, its aforementioned stacked supporting cast are clearly having a lot of fun behind the camera. Samberg, Kate McKinnon, and Allison Janney are definitely the standouts of the supporting crop, generating most of the film’s biggest laughs.

For a dark comedy tackling divorce, and the nasty lengths one is willing to go to in order to make their partner’s life a living hell, the story brings a surprising amount of warmth and heart that makes for a nice reprieve amongst all the chaos. The most wholesome moments in the film come from the relationship between Theo Rose and his children, starting with a simple running gag (quite literally) before further developing into something sweet and sincere. While the film’s first two acts of this are enjoyable to watch, it truly comes to life once it reaches its wild, and deranged third act, where much of the best and most heightened moments are found.

That being said, though it is certainly a good film that is easy to recommend to audiences, it simply does not come anywhere close to being as funny, clever or even as satirical as it could have been, especially with a screenwriter as talented as Tony McNamara helming it. For better or worse, the result feels pretty tame, and slight compared to the original. It is just a shame that it takes until the third act for the film to take off, and give audiences what they have come to see, because it could’ve benefitted from leaning more into its unhinged darkly comedic side throughout, instead of reserving that side for the final act. Though it definitely has a lot of laughs going for it, many of the big ones are saved until the end but as a whole, could have been funnier throughout. When all is set and done, the film is merely another unfortunate case of the trailer showing the entire film beat for beat, keeping all of the best moments for the film itself.

In spite of its flaws, The Roses is still an enjoyable time to be had, due to its committed lead performances and excellent supporting cast even, but it nevertheless could have been so much more. It is commendable to see more adult oriented films such as this one receive a major wide release in theatres, especially on a holiday weekend, but either way, it is also one worth waiting for once it inevitably hits a streaming service in the coming months. While carried by excellent performances from Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman, the film simply lacks the bite of the original.

still courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/