Ticketworthy! - The Roses

There’s something admirable about trying to create satirical or black comedy. When done correctly, it’s a balancing act akin to masterful tightrope walker. If you sway too far to one side, you might drown the characters in viciousness or misery to the point it really isn’t comedy anymore. Go too far in the other direction, however, and you’ll get a sanitized and watered down version of the story that doesn’t challenge the characters enough. That is exactly what’s happened with director Jay Roach’s The Roses, a remake of 1989’s The War of the Roses.

Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Ivy Rose (Olivia Colman) are a happily married couple. Theo has a successful career as an architect while Ivy is a former chef that has spent the least ten years as a housewife and mother instead of building a career. When Theo loses his job and Ivy opens a successful restaurant, the roles reverse and emotions flare. The two begin a long, sad spiral into resentment and bitterness that threatens their marriage, sanity, and lives.

To be clear, the film is by no means bad. Theo and Ivy are both interesting characters and are realized magnificently by Cumberbatch and Colman. I struggle to think of a moment where either of them had a joke fall flat. There’s perhaps not quite as much chemistry between the two as you’d like, but both actors have good enough comedic timing that they manage to be very funny playing off each other anyway.

Roach is also good comedic director, with series like Austin Powers and Meet the Parents under his belt. Those directing chops are on display here. The shot selection and editing are sharp and often add to the comedy. His skill really shines in the frantic final act, when the couple are at each other’s throats and escalating their attacks on one another. He keeps the scenes tight and well-timed, so it never feels like the movie has gotten off-track.

Perhaps in a traditional romantic comedy, the talent and wit of the leads and skill of the director might have been enough to produce a genuinely great movie. The Roses, though, wants to be dark. It wants to be satirical. That requires an edginess that the script just never actually manifests. It’s far too silly and takes much too long to put its characters in any danger or show them doing anything despicable. Even when it does finally get to the crazy antics, they feel slapstick rather than dark. I had no problem believing that these two people hated each other. For this kind of film to work, though, I needed to believe they were a threat to each other. I did not. Not for one second.

It’s a shame, because there’s plenty to like in The Roses. Had the script found just a bit more snarl, a bit higher stakes, it could have been totally brilliant. It certainly had all the pieces it needed. As is, it’s a mostly harmless, fairly funny movie that likely won’t leave any kind of meaningful mark. I wondered why they took “The War” out of the title of the remake. I now understand it’s because they took the war out of the movie. They should have left it in.