The Roses, directed by Jay Roach, is in cinemas now.
In an adorable meet-cute in a London restaurant kitchen, architect Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch) and chef Ivy (Olivia Colman) fall in love before promptly moving to California to follow their dreams. A decade later they have two cute kids and a happy marriage kept alive by regular sprinklings of frisky bedroom talk and caustic banter. (A concerned therapist notes their “verbal cruelty”, to which a bemused Theo replies, “In England we call that repartee.”)
But then disaster strikes Theo’s latest grand design, just as Ivy’s restaurant receives a career-catapulting review. The pair go from being each other’s biggest supporter to greatest malcontent. This remake of 1989’s Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner-starring War of the Roses sensibly updates Ivy and Theo’s life to 2025-era successes. It switches gender roles to have Theo take over as house-husband so Ivy can be the family breadwinner by opening a chain of crab restaurants.
The new treatment of these characters by Australian screenwriter Tony McNamara (Poor Things and the Colman-starring The Favourite) is more satisfyingly nuanced than the 1980s stereotype of overworked men and their neglected wives. These modern-day Roses are more loving, both have aspirations and their marriage looks no rockier than that of their friends ‒ a hilarious pairing of Andy Samberg and Kate McKinnon.
Director Jay Roach (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents) is blessed with a fantastic script that hands the brilliant leads and superb supporting cast zinger after zinger. It’s adult stuff, too, with insults you would not expect to hear from The Crown’s second QEII. But from cult British sitcom Peep Show to her Oscar win for The Favourite, Colman has long demonstrated she’s a comedian at heart. Cumberbatch is less of a natural funny man, but The Roses plays on his acuity with English sarcasm, and together they resoundingly pull off the couple’s mutual attraction and connection.
Less successful is the deterioration of Theo and Ivy’s marriage, as divorce lawyers are instructed (with a too-short cameo from Allison Janney) and swords are literally drawn.
But it doesn’t matter. With such enjoyable performances and a rollercoaster of emotions, this updated portrait of the Roses proves that sometimes the second marriage gets it right.
Rating out of five: ★★★★
