By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
Two Oscar caliber talents are unable to provide the fertilizer necessary to get this script to properly bloom. “The Roses” is a reimagining of the 1989 adaptation of “The War of the Roses” authored by Warren Adler. This interpretation takes way too long to get where it is going, leaving viewers holding a thorny stick by the time the comedy arrives.
When Theo Rose (Benedict Cumberbatch) meets Ivy (Olivia Colman), it is love at first sight. They build a seemingly perfect marriage together, raising two children while Theo expands his career as an architect. That is until a disaster destroys his career, putting Ivy in the driver’s seat of being the family’s breadwinner.
As Theo adjusts to his new life as a stay-at-home dad, Ivy becomes a world-renowned chef. The seeds of jealousy and bitterness sprout thorny resentment, making Theo lash out at his wife. Divorce seems inevitable as the two combatants take turns inflicting horrible damage on each other.
Director Jay Roach is far removed from his early comedy successes of “Austin Powers” and “Meet the Parents,” and his return to the genre falls a bit flat. The biggest issue is that he spends too much time cultivating the backstory of the couple’s love story that when he finally pivots to their falling out, it feels rushed and forced. He also makes the children characters seem like an afterthought, spending too much time introducing them only to disappear them in a haphazardly lazy way that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Basically, it’s a case of too much of a runway with very little takeoff.
Complicating the entertainment further is the lack of Roach’s commitment to either the drama or dark comedy. Credit the veteran director for not simply remaking the film and modernizing it as a lazy cash grab, as his vision strays mightily from the original story, but the foundation of the story is supposed to be an anti-romantic comedy. Instead, he spends many scenes fostering a sweet love story that is counterintuitive to the destructive nature the relationship becomes. When conflict finally enters the film, the dark humor of what they do to each other largely misses the mark because it feels untrue to how these characters were depicted during the first two thirds of the movie. He veers the story around elaborately constructed comedic scenes rather making those scenes a natural part of the story. Sure, there are some chuckles to be had, but Roach only skims the surface, playing it too safe and silly with the comedic moments.
When Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman were announced as the leads for this movie, movie aficionados across the globe were rightfully excited, thinking this to be a guaranteed winner. While these are two of the most talented and decorated actors in the business, they cannot match the incredible on-screen chemistry of Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner from the original film. Still, their witty English sarcasm and deadpan line delivery provide some much-needed humorous moments. “Saturday Night Live” alumni Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg play significant supporting roles to enhance the hilarity, but their constant contradictory nature makes them nothing more than goofy distractions.
This is one of those comedies where a majority of the funniest moments were displayed in the trailers. Even the highly anticipated dinner scene was unremarkable and underwhelming. “The Roses” pales in comparison to the original, but the starring actors provide just enough entertainment value to make viewers feel like they had a good enough time. For those expecting a harsher dark comedy throughout, you will be sorely disappointed.
This movie earns:
