Leave it to Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch, arguably the most likable English actors around, to make marital destruction so much fun. The Roses, based on Warren Adler’s book that was adapted into a pitch-black 1989 comedy starring Michael Douglas and Kahthleen Turner, is savage, droll, and hysterical in equal measure. While this version lacks the demented mind of Danny DeVito behind the camera, it does have Jay Roach who delivers a more glossy, rom-com style presentation of divorce at its most combative. Roach knows comedy, but more specifically, he knows crass comedy about familial dysfunction, and The Roses has it in spades.
When we first meet Ivy and Theo Rose (Colman and Cumberbatch), they are in marriage therapy unable to say even one nice thing about each other. The therapist goes so far as to tell them they aren’t meant to be together. “Are you allowed to say that?”, they ask before cracking jokes about the absurdity of the situation. These two have a love language and it’s dark gags at their own expense. But where does that mean-spirited humor go when there’s nothing left to laugh about?
As with the first movie, material possessions and career trajectory are at the heart of this marriage’s downfall. When Theo first meets Ivy, he’s fleeing a nightmare luncheon with his fellow architects into the restaurant’s back kitchen where he spots her skillfully filleting a fish. A few brief flirtations later and they are in the walk-in fridge having sex, establishing that passion for one another isn’t something they are short on.
Their marriage, borne of such a fling, nevertheless turns out to be a storybook affair. He’s a renowned architect and the family breadwinner. She has put her career aside to care for their two kids. Unsurprisingly, she begins to feel unfulfilled by this arrangement, and with Theo’s support, opens up a quirky little seaside cafe, cheekily named “We’ve Got Crabs!” When her business becomes an overnight success at the same time that his career literally crumbles due to a freak storm, it causes the first real spark of resentment.
Screenwriter Tony McNamara has worked with Colman in the past on The Favourite, and captured another warring, toxic relationship in TV series The Great. He has a knack for painting absolutely awful characters that we can nevertheless relate to. It’s easy to see Ivy’s side of things, especially as she becomes a superstar celebrity chef, and bankrolls Theo’s dream home project to help pull him out of a severe depression. At the same time, she sort of rubs her success in his face a little bit, whether she wants to admit that or not. And Theo is no prince, either, wallowing in petty, white beta male grievance that makes it impossible for him to appreciate his wife’s happiness. The thing is, both sides know what they’re doing is wrong and move ahead with it anyway, because people are fragile and stubborn and woefully imperfect. Especially in matters of the heart.
Colman and Cumberbatch have incredible chemistry, which should surprise nobody. The Roses isn’t an easy film, tonally. There are lots of jokes about suicide and murder, with some real zingers like “Never leave me, but when you do, will you kill me on the way out?”. Both stars slide so easily between love and hate that you can barely tell the difference. If there’s one thing The Roses does extremely well, it’s making sure we can see how much love there is between them, and how much of a tragedy it is to see it go away. Both actors play drunk, angry, and vindictive like seasoned pros. That said, the vitriol can be hard to stomach and is probably not going to be for everyone.
But it’s also so much fun to watch the whole thing crumble! The centerpiece scene is a huge dinner party featuring the film’s incredible ensemble of Kate McKinnon, Andy Samberg, Zoe Chao, Ncuti Gatwa, Sunita Mani, and Jamie Demetriou. Colman and Cumberbatch set the hatred on a low heat, slowly turning up the temperature until it boils over into wanton acts of attempted murder just to get the upper hand in the divorce proceedings. The Roses manages to be ludicrous and poignant at the same time. For all of the artillery that gets unleashed in this battle of the heart, you’ll want this relationship to survive long enough that they can fight again another day.
The Roses opens in theaters August 29th from Searchlight Pictures.
