The Roses

by Mike McGranaghan

The Roses is a new take on Warren Adler’s novel The War of the Roses, which was famously adapted into the 1989 box office hit starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. This movie is quite different from that one. Whereas the Danny DeVito-directed film focused on the increasingly hostile actions between a husband and wife whose marriage is falling apart, this one – directed by Meet the Parents’ Jay Roach – saves that for the last twenty minutes. The rest of the story takes time to explore how and why the central couple disintegrates.

Architect Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch) and chef Ivy (Olivia Colman) have a chance encounter that leads to spontaneous sex, followed by eventual wedlock. Their union changes when his career suffers a major downturn while hers starts to skyrocket. Suddenly, she’s the breadwinner and he’s a stay-at-home dad. Friends, including Amy (Kate McKinnon) and Barry (Andy Samberg), start to notice cracks in the marriage, although the Roses themselves initially deny it. Tensions continue to rise, making the couple unable to contain their hostility toward each other and leading to a major blow-out that’s darkly funny and undeniably sad at the same time.

Written by Tony McNamara (Poor Things), The Roses benefits from taking an observational approach to the relationship. We thoroughly understand what drew Theo and Ivy together, as well as how various factors negatively impact their dynamic. The original version pretty much started with the couple divorcing, then focused on the twisted ways both made the other one miserable. That worked beautifully for a dark comedy. This movie tries to incorporate some emotion by recognizing that the dissolution of a marriage is inherently a tragic thing. Forging its own path was a smart choice.

At times, the broad humor and the pathos mesh awkwardly. Even in those spots, the picture succeeds because of the outstanding performances from Cumberbatch and Colman. The joy of listening to them trade stinging barbs is reason enough to see the film. Both have precise comic timing, delivering lines with acerbic wit. But just as importantly, they sell the idea that their characters were once deeply in love – and may still be at some level. That proves vital during the final act, when Theo and Ivy launch insane full-on assaults. If we didn’t grasp how they got to this point, the whole story would crumble. The British actors really are a dream team who make everything gel.

McKinnon and Samberg provide hilarious back-up, as does Allison Janney in a fierce one-scene performance as Ivy’s cutthroat divorce lawyer. As an interesting contrast, Amy and Barry visibly have their own marital issues, yet they somehow manage to navigate them. Unlike the Roses, they don’t hold the illusion that life has to be perfect all the time. The friends pop up intermittently to underscore how fractious things are in the Rose household.

Anyone who saw The War of the Roses probably remembers the nihilistic note it ended on. It was a final twist of the knife for the characters and the audience. The Roses manages to find a perfect ending for its cautionary tale approach. The final scene melds the underlying tenderness with scathing satire in a manner that undermines neither. You’ve got to hand it to a movie that can earn big laughs and strong feelings, often in the same beat.

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