With Oscar winner Olivia Colman and Oscar winner Benedict Cumberbatch starring in The Roses, a reimagining of the 1989 black comedy, many expected Searchlight Pictures to give the film an awards season spotlight. But with the release date set for August 29th at the tail end of summer, typically a very quiet, forgettable weekend, it seems they’ve had other ideas. Should we be concerned?
The new trailer leaves me with some concerns, but it’s tough to ignore the source material and the talent on both sides of the camera. The Roses, based on the 1981 book by Warren Adler, stars Colman and Cumberbatch as a seemingly-perfect married couple as their life together begins to crumble under the weight of resentment and selfishness.
Maybe it’s the “from the director of Meet the Parents” tag, and this is no slight on Jay Roach who has done some good stuff, but it doesn’t strike me that this film will have the teeth of its predecessor. On the plus side, it has a script by Poor Things writer Tony McNamara.
Also in the cast are Allison Janney, Ncuti Gatwa, Andy Samberg, Sunita Mani, Kate McKinnon, Zoe Chao, and Belinda Bromilow.
SYNOPSIS: Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch): successful careers, a loving marriage, great kids. But beneath the façade of their supposed ideal life, a storm is brewing – as Theo’s career nosedives while Ivy’s own ambitions take off, a tinderbox of fierce competition and hidden resentment ignites. The Roses is a reimagining of the 1989 classic film “The War of the Roses,” based on the novel by Warren Adler.
The Roses opens in theaters on August 29th.
