Film review: ‘THE ROSES’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’

The Roses is the sporadically funny but undercooked, shakily constructed and tonally uneven remake of the dark 1980’s marital discord comedy The War of the Roses that starred Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.

This time, replacing Douglas and Turner are Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Coleman. Cumberbatch plays Theo Rose a renowned architect who after an astonishingly quick courtship marries chef Ivy (Olivia Coleman). Having set up a seemingly idyllic life with their two children in scenic California their relationship is upended when Theo’s signature project becomes a disaster just as Ivy’s dubiously named restaurant becomes a huge success. Increasingly bitter and resentful of their partner, they set about psychologically tormenting one another and destroying their model middle class life.

Cumberbatch and Coleman are two of Britain’s most celebrated actors of recent years and their star power and screen presence elevates this film. Even they, however, can’t fully animate this oddly tepid movie. Even when they’re hurling insults and even knives at each other the film feels a little flat and lacks that acidic taste and misanthropic malevolence the original had.

As a comedy it’s erratic. There are funny moments, particularly when Olivia Coleman blurts out how she really feels about people but a little too often the humour doesn’t quite land.  A literal running gag about Theo training his athlete children like a drill sergeant feels like something from a from a quirky family film rather than a movie about an imploding marriage.

Kate McKinnon is amusing at first as a horny oddball who lusts after Theo but eventually her role feels like a bit from Saturday Night Live rather than a fully formed character. Andy Samberg delivers a couple of amusing moments as Theo’s obligatory quirky friend but the script doesn’t give him much to work with.  Allison Janney makes as big an impression as anyone in a cameo as Ivy’s take no prisoners divorce lawyer and the film would have been improved if she had played a bigger role.

The film manages a few witty observations about contemporary materialism, the stresses of career and gender politics but there’s nothing particularly profound here.

Lacking momentum and atmosphere, The Roses feels strangely empty. The clean sunlit aesthetic director Jay Roach creates, works against the darkness of the material. The film earns some extra credit, though, for a decent soundtrack, with tunes from Big Thief and Courtney Barnett.

Nick’s rating: **1/2

Genre: Drama/ Comedy.

Classification: MA15+.

Director(s): Jay Roach.

Release date: 4th Sep 2025.

Running time: 105 mins.

Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

 

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