'The Roses' Review: Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch Get Prickly in Darkly Funny Marital Comedy
The idea of a Jay Roach (Meet the Parents) helmed, British-coded adaptation of Warren Adler's marital farce novel The War of the Roses penned by Tony McNamara (The Favourite, Poor Things) is so bizarre. I haven't read the novel, nor have I seen Danny DeVito's 1989 adaptation, which I hear is very cinematic and visually creative, but from what I have gathered, the premise is like The Banshees of Inisherin and Phantom Thread for married American couples. And now we have this version from one of the best scribes of insane insults in film today. In the form of a rather slow-burning dramedy, The Roses is a contemporary, very British portrayal of marriage, validation, desire, and passion that is sharp when it isn't overshadowed by director Jay Roach's bland flair.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
MPA Rating: R (for crude/sexual material, violence/bloody images, and brief partial nudity)
Runtime: 1 Hour and 45 Minutes
Production Companies: South of the River Pictures, SunnyMarch, Delirious Media
Distributor: Searchlight Pictures
Director: Jay Roach
Writers: Tony McNamara
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon, Allison Janney, Belinda Bromilow, Sunita Mani, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Demetriou, Zoë Chao, Hala Finley
Release Date: August 29, 2025
Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Ivy (Olivia Colman) had a “match each other’s freak” meet-cute at a restaurant in Britain and instantly U-Hauled from Britain to Mendocino, California. Ten years later, they are happily married with twins and content in stable jobs. Theo is a beloved architect and Ivy owns a seafood restaurant, “Got Crabs,” which barely gets any customers. But when a storm hits, it disrupts the calm of their careers: one of Theo's buildings collapses and Ivy’s shop receives an unexpected rave review from a food critic. Following this, Theo is fired from his job and becomes a stay-at-home dad while Ivy becomes an overnight culinary great. Resentment and neglect begin to bubble between the spouses, and the two must face dangerous turning points of their marriage.
The Roses bloom through Tony McNamara's distinctive, incisive, sly wit
Following his many period scripts, The Roses is Tony McNamara at his most contemporary, retexturing a classic story for the digital age. The Roses is a fine update that finely deconstructs the trials of a marriage rooted in insecurity, letting petty squabbles brew through sheer, sharp, and biting dialogue. McNamara satirizes aspects unique to our modern living — with jokes stemming from viral videos breaking careers and smart appliances being a hell to live with — while staying true to the richness of Adler's texts with his cunning humor.
The novelty of this examination lies in part in McNarmara's simmering, pressure cooking, slow burn. The Roses is a multi-year narrative that explores these characters’ gradual resentment. You feel the weight of their marriage cracking at the seams with each blindsided lack of support for their partner, whether it be ego or lack of validation. It's a study and deconstruction of characters facing a tumultuous turning point within their relationship precipitated by the shift in their careers. The foundation of love is still omnipresent, but the career shift throws a big ol' wedge in their dynamic. Throughout there are abundant, very funny, albeit sad, scenes of the two trying and failing to show up for each other romantically. Unlike the original story, the catalyst here isn't Theo experiencing a near-death experience, but rather the insecurities he faces from not being an architect anymore. The not-so-titular war doesn't commence until very late in the story, and when it occurs, it feels so investing and earned.
The Roses is funny, but not as rip-roaringly hysterical as McNamara's previous works. However, when McNamara applies his cunning to notable scenes from the source, his writing and the leads’ performances really shine. This is the guy who made every audience I've seen watch The Favourite go “ooooooooh” over Olivia Colman's Queen Anne saying, “I like it when she puts her tongue inside me,” like the best "Yo Mama" disser ever. His dialogue is cutting and his insults are devastating, especially when they come from an earned place of bubbling resentment. So when those twisted insults fly, cutting deep, there's a sense of catharsis backed up with each laugh.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman are a great couple out of hell
The Roses is a major two-hander comedic showcase for Colman and Cumberbatch who shine in this marital portrait. I've personally found myself growing weary by Colman’s misdirecting comedic styling where she "delivers the most insane thing you've ever heard with a cheery demeanor." At this point it feels like typecasting. Yet, McNamara gives Ivy a well-rounded personality; she feels the stress and pain of her newfound success and Colman realizes her very groundedly. She and Cumberbatch are on equal grounding every scene, as Theo's dry, aloof personality goes well with Ivy's.
Benedict Cumberbatch's theo is a despondent, pathetic, wormy little shit. Early on, it you empathize with him being stripped of his profession he dedicated his life to. Naturally, he becomes increasingly pathetic. But Cumberbarch's sublime portrayal of great comical physicality and comic timing renders him a fun loser to watch.
The Roses also benefits from its supporting players who make their time the most of it. Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg are often funny, as Amy and Barry, the least convincing straight couple. Sunita Mani and American-accented Ncuti Gatwa as Ivy's millennial employees share some good dialogue. Then a Theo-feuding Jamie Demetriou and bubby Zoë Chao as an architect couple make an intense dinner scene even funnier.
Allison Janney is The Roses' scene-stealer. She's in a scene as Ivy's divorce lawyer where she goes for Theo's throat, dominating with her dry, serious presence, an unnecessary dog by her side to amplify her assertiveness. It's one of the movie’s standout sequences.
Let McNamara do his thing
The Roses plays like a 2010s studio comedy, which strains it from greatness. The film is significantly broader and more meandering than it deserves due to Jay Roach's pedestrian direction. He lets the supporting comedic player ad-lib to their heart’s content, and it's heavily felt as their American sensibilities work as a fun contrast to The Roses' British attitude, but comically, it's very discordant. While they are funny, many of the comedic scenes with Samberg and McKinnon, whom I love, are padded out. Particularly the running gag of Amy wanting to bone Theo. I get they are great comic actors, but you have a flawless Tony McNamara script right there. It brought back a lot of my problems with Dinner for Schmucks or even Meet the Parents, where the character actors' mugging of the camera stretches the runtime and undermines the plot. Here it undermines the set dark tone, and it's extremely bothersome for much of the movie, hence it not being as consistently funny to its fullest potential.
Final Statement
The Roses is a darkly funny marital comedy, with Cumberbatch and Colman delivering sharp, two-handed comic performances—thanks to Tony McNamara’s biting script.
