Director: Jay Roach
Actors: Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Rating: MA
‘The Roses’ is a reimagining of 1989’s ‘The War of the Roses’,
which I should note I’ve not seen, nor have I read the book. We start with Ivy
(Colman) and husband Theo (Cumberbatch), on a therapy couch. We then go back to
when they first met, and skip to a few years later when they have 2 kids, Hattie
& Roy, when Theo’s architecture dreams quite literally come crashing down. Ivy’s
restaurant becomes successful, and they swap their parenting roles.
It's mostly a rom-com, with the whole mad-cap, escalating
situations to try to divorce each other only taking up the last 20min or so. Colman
and Cumberbatch are both good, and we probably need more screentime from friends
Barry (Samberg) & Amy (McKinnon), and Rory (Demetriou) & Sally (Chao).
Like most things in films, all the issues in their relationship are exaggerated,
with no real unforgiveable sins committed. The house on the northern California
coast does look amazing.
It's quite quick at 100min, but still drags a little in the
middle. The ending is maybe not as shocking as I was expecting, but absurd
enough. A few good laughs, solid performances, but given it’s from the director
of the ‘Austin Powers’ films, it’s not as funny or silly as I was hoping –
probably closer to Roach’s ‘Dinner For Schmucks’.
Overall: Passable rom-com-gone-wrong
Gav’s Rating: 3 stars
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