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R
for language throughout, sexual content, and drug content.
Starring
Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andy Samberg, Allison Janney, Kate McKinnon
Director
Jay Roach
Producer
Benedict Cumberbatch, Leah Cla
Genres
Comedydrama
Released by
Searchlight Pictures on
8/29/2025
Nationwide
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Trailer
Review
The Roses is not a remake of the 1989 film The War of the Roses, which starred Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito (and was directed by DeVito), although both movies draw from the same source material: Warren Adler's novel. Director Jay Roach (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents) has emphasized that this is a "re-imagination," acknowledging the impossibility of recapturing the alchemy of the earlier production, which relied heavily on the chemistry the leads had developed across multiple collaborations. Instead, Roach and screenwriter Tony McNamara sought a different perspective for the material. The result is more dramatic, less over-the-top, and proves to be tonally uneven. The humor is muted and less overtly vicious, but the more serious approach doesn't quite succeed.
Unlike The War of the Roses, which dispensed with its meet-cute/rom-com elements fairly quickly, The Roses devotes much of its first half to establishing the domestic life of the title characters, Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch). In fact, it isn't until the third act that we arrive at "The War," with many of the individual battles (presented as vignettes in DeVito's version) condensed into a montage. It's an odd way to tell the story. The extended setup blends low-key comedy - mostly in the form of witty banter - with dramatic beats that contrast the collapse of Theo's career with the ascent of Ivy's, echoing A Star Is Born. The film feels overlong, due in part to the uneven dynamic between Colman and Cumberbatch. They shine when sparring, but are less convincing as romantic partners. I believed their hatred more than their declarations of love.
The film opens with the pair meeting in a restaurant kitchen in the U.K., where an immediate attraction leads to a quickie in a meat locker and, soon after, a move to the United States, where they establish a home. One fateful night, Theo's career as an architect comes crashing down (literally), while the same chain of events transforms Ivy's restaurant into the trendiest spot in town. She becomes the breadwinner, while he is relegated to the role of Mr. Mom—a part that doesn't suit him. Resentment simmers just beneath the surface, occasionally erupting in front of their small circle of friends and co-workers: Barry (Andy Samberg), Amy (Kate McKinnon), Jeffrey (Ncuti Gatwa), Jane (Sunita Mani), Sally (Zoe Chao), and Rory (Jamie Demetriou). Their children notice too, as the couple's occasional spats of resentment grow more persistent and less civil.
In The War of the Roses, the attacks and counterattacks grew increasingly preposterous as the stakes escalated with each new foray. Douglas and Turner dove into their roles with relish, playing take-no-prisoners adversaries with the same passion they had once brought to adventurous lovers in Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile. Here, things are more restrained. This lends a certain believability to the relationship's collapse, but the end result is far less fun. The best scene in The Roses - and the one that comes closest to capturing the dark zaniness the film needs more of - comes when Ivy and Theo sit across a table and discuss divorce. Allison Janney, in what amounts to little more than an extended cameo as Ivy's lawyer, is magnetic, stealing the viewer's attention from both Colman and Cumberbatch.
Although The Roses deserves to be judged on its own merits, it would be disingenuous to ignore the long shadow cast by The War of the Roses - and therein lies the danger of revisiting material that has already been so successfully realized. In striving to be more grounded, Roach sacrifices the most delicious aspects of the story's black comedy in favor of soap-opera melodrama and dulled repartee. There are moments when The Roses works (mostly in the second half), but it lingers too long in setup and concludes with an ending that proves unsatisfying on several levels. Ultimately, The Roses needs fewer flowers and more combat.
© 2025 James Berardinelli
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