The Roses – Film Review

Director – Jay Roach
Writers – Warren Adler, Tony McNamara
Stars – Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kate McKinnon

The film begins with Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch) at a marriage counselling session. Their answers to the question of what each likes about the other are surprising and bizarre.  They provide little glue to enable a marriage to hold. Ivy and Theo initially met after a chance encounter in the kitchen of a restaurant, where Ivy was a chef.  They wasted no time before they had sex. Now ten years or so later, they have moved from London to California, where Theo is pursuing his career as a cutting-edge architect. They have two kids, and Ivy operates a seaside shack fish restaurant with the unnerving name “We have crabs”, which just about ticks over. Then a series of events takes place, which results in Theo’s career nosediving and Ivy’s taking off. He is the home maker, and she is a very upmarket breadwinner as a celebrity chef. Inevitably, tensions rise between them with this reversal of roles, not least over Theo’s decision to send the two kids off to some wacky fitness boot camp. This device gets the kids out of the way for the bust-up.

Their best friends are Barry (Andy Samberg) and Amy (Kate McKinnon). Amy makes it clear that she would like to know more about Theo’s inner thigh. Barry acts as Theo’s lawyer when this troubled marriage finally hits the rocks. Ivy has Eleanor (Alison Janney) as her alpha female, an aggressive attorney accompanied by a bloodhound. The Theo-designed mega luxury seaside villa, bankrolled by Ivy, is the main bone of contention. All gloves are off.

Colman and Cumberbatch each have the opportunity to demonstrate their immense acting skills, and they do so. Samberg and McKinnon have less to play with, but they make the most of what they are given. The excellent Ncuti Gatwa has a small supporting role as an assistant chef, adding some extra spice to the proceedings.

The story is adapted from Warren Adler’s 1981 novel “The War of the Roses”, which was previously filmed in 1989 with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. This iteration captures the excesses of the upwardly mobile ambitions of the neurotic strivings of 21st-century professionals. But for all the smooth surfaces, designer-shaped spaces and world of comfortable well-being, it is a story of a marriage on the rocks. While the acting and the one-liners are first-rate and the comedy is ever-present, the tragedy of a marriage breakdown barely gets an airing. While it neglects the more complex elements, it does deliver comedy and some impressive performances.