The Roses (2025)
Directed by: Jay Roach
Premise: Inspired by the novel The War of the Roses by Warren Adler. A marriage unravels as resentments between the couple (Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch) boil over.
What Works: A lot of comedy is inherently mean-spirited and The Roses embraces its meanness. The film’s main strength is the casting of Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch as Ivy and Theo. The filmmakers have cast two British actors who know how to deliver an insult and the script is full of biting lines of dialogue. Colman and Cumberbatch are also accomplished dramatic actors and they are convincing as a couple. The relationship begins lovingly and it is convincing that these two at one point did love each other. The first half of The Roses is the stronger portion as the relationship declines. Ivy is a professional chef and Theo is an architect and her career takes off just as his career very publicly implodes. This is an effective dramatization of competitiveness damaging a personal relationship. The filmmakers and the actors don’t spell it out but we can see how Theo is petty and jealous whereas Ivy is insensitive to his struggles and needs. As Theo becomes a stay-at-home parent, their children become closer to him, causing another wedge in the marriage. These resentments create some real moments in the drama.
What Doesn’t: The supporting characters in The Roses are played by talented actors but they aren’t given enough to do. Kate McKinnon, Andy Samberg, Zoë Chao, and Allison Janney bring their considerable talents to those roles and punch up their scenes but the story doesn’t use them very well. The Roses includes some severe tonal shifts especially in its second half. The first part of the movie plays well, gradually tracking the descent of the marriage, but the final collapse of the relationship comes all at once and feels rushed. Theo and Ivy get violent in a way that is startling but is not credible. The violence seems out of character for them and the rest of the movie. The comedy and drama are sometimes at odds with each other. The dramatic moments dampen the comedy while the goofiness of some of the humor undercuts the stakes of the drama. The Roses comes across compromised. It’s a picture tugged in too many different emotional directions at once and the filmmakers can’t quite tie together all the tones and story elements.
Bottom Line: The Roses has moments that are funny and sad and occasionally poignant. However, the filmmakers struggle to balance those disparate parts into a cohesive whole. The film’s messiness is part of its character but the second half of The Roses is a little too disjointed.
Episode: #1063 (September 7, 2025)