The reason that THE ROSES succeeds so well as a romcom, one that dares to be more sentimental than the original, is that it heightens two things. The sense of emotional as well as physical danger that the eponymous couple suffer during their marital breakdown, and the emotional depth that Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Coleman bring. Those stinging barbs, sharp enough to draw blood, aren’t just the black humor and mordant wit of a well-written comedy, they are, in the hands of such expert thespians, the natural result of resentments and anger that spring from true love gone very wrong despite the best of intentions.
They are Theo and Ivy, who meet cute (and carnal) in London before taking a leap of faith to Northern California. There, Theo, the visionary architect, is on the verge of immorality while Ivy has put her culinary genius on hold to raise their precocious but never cloying twins, Hattie and Roy (Hala Finley and Wells Rappaport). Alas, on a dark and stormy night, fate or chance upends their lives, leaving Theo floundering with self-esteem issues and Ivy suddenly the breadwinner thanks to the struggling eatery she operates becoming the next big thing.
Starting with a marriage counseling session that defeats the therapist while also reinforcing the Rose’s bond, there is a look back at how they went from perfect couple to snipe-masters who fall back on head shape when trying to come up with something positive to say about one another. From carpaccio as foreplay to a dinner party that ends in violence, and weaponized AI, this couple, who don’t just love one another, but also like each other inordinately, drift apart imperceptibly amid mounds of laundry and a burgeoning restaurant empire without acknowledging the implications of the drift to each other or themselves The squabbling is pain made manifest from the classic relationship pressure points of how to raise the kids, taking each other for granted, and the power dynamics of money.
Yes, there is that quietly devastating moment when Theo verbalizes his feelings, creating the turning point of the film with the necessary gravitas. Your heart breaks as it is meant to do, and it makes you all the more eager for the brilliant physical comedy that punctuates the broad humor and intelligent insights disguised as bon mots flung with the deadly force of a trebuchet at the most vulnerable bits. Aided and abetted by the arched surprise of Coleman’s eyebrow and Cumberbatch’s lowering glare at the unfairness of it all.
The supporting players, Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg as the couple’s best friends and ironic gun enthusiasts bring their own brand of loony to a putatively open marriage (she’s, ahem, gunning for Theo), and Allison Janney as the shark of a divorce lawyer with professional but not personal stakes that Ivy hires is far more terrifying than the emotional support Rottweiler that accompanies her to the division of property meeting.
THE ROSES pulls no punches, and it refuses to entirely break the sometimes tenuous tether of reality in its brutally raucous examination of a marriage gone bad. There is no simple breakdown of heroes and villains, instead it’s a clever dissection of how fragile is both the male ego and the ties that bind. Hold your loved ones close, it advises, and for the love of heaven, fold the laundry without being asked.
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