‘The Roses’ Review: Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman Weaponize Wit in Jay Roach’s Stylish Marital Comedy

Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman trade barbs like bullets in The Roses, a glossy, darkly comic spin on spousal warfare that’s wickedly entertaining even when the satire runs thin.

Watching The Roses feels like Marriage Story on adrenaline — but dressed in designer aesthetics and frosted with wedding-cake décor. Jay Roach’s reimagining of Warren Adler’s The War of the Roses arrives with impeccable pedigree: a starry cast led by Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman, a screenplay by Tony McNamara (The Favourite, Poor Things), and production values polished to a high gloss. The result is sleek, acerbic, and intermittently brilliant — though, like the marriage it dissects, it doesn’t entirely hold together. At the film’s acidic center are Theo and Ivy Rose, played by Cumberbatch and Colman with sublime nastiness. Their marriage begins with sparks — the kind of sparks that set fire to restaurant kitchens and keep therapists on edge — before collapsing into mutual sabotage. Cumberbatch weaponizes Theo’s brittle masculinity, layering wounded pride beneath every barbed line delivery. Colman, meanwhile, plays Ivy like a chef wielding knives: with precision, cruelty, and a deadpan relish that makes even her most vicious insults sting with humor. The chemistry between them is nothing short of combustible. In McNamara’s hands, their dialogue fizzes with profanity-laced absurdity, and Colman drops the C-word with a grace that only she could make both horrifying and hilarious. Their repartee alone could sustain the film — and often does, as Roach occasionally loses his grip on tone and pacing.

The narrative tracks their relationship from meet-cute to meltdown. A flashback shows Theo sneaking out of a business lunch to meet Ivy in a kitchen, sparking an impulsive romance that takes them from London to coastal California. A decade later, Theo is a celebrated architect, Ivy a frustrated chef turned homemaker. When Theo’s grand design — a maritime museum — literally collapses in a freak storm, the balance of power shifts. Ivy’s seafood restaurant thrives, Theo stews in resentment, and their domestic bliss becomes a powder keg. Roach stages their unraveling with both broad comedy and pointed social commentary. The kitchen, the bedroom, even a sunlit dining room become arenas of combat. Ivy bankrolls Theo’s dream house only to see him spiral into ego-driven ruin. Theo drills their children into athletic champions while Ivy revels in her newfound professional success. Every detail — from the title of Ivy’s restaurant (We’ve Got Crabs) to the viral humiliation of Theo’s architectural disaster — adds layers of absurdity to their feud.

Around the Roses swirl a gallery of friends, lovers, and rivals. Andy Samberg and Kate McKinnon play a raunchy couple whose introduction to shooting ranges sets up an inevitable callback. Zoë Chao and Jamie Demetriou provide comic relief as another mismatched pair. Allison Janney steals her single scene as Ivy’s divorce lawyer, delivering lines so cutting they could file the paperwork themselves. If there’s a flaw, it’s that the ensemble is overstuffed. Too many side characters are sketched thinly, existing primarily to reflect the Roses’ disintegration rather than standing as fully formed individuals. Still, the caliber of performers ensures that even underwritten roles pop.

Visually, The Roses gleams. Cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra frames modernist homes and coastal vistas with the lush precision of a lifestyle magazine. Domestic interiors become battlegrounds, their pristine surfaces a contrast to the escalating carnage. Peggy Schnitzer’s costumes deepen character arcs — Theo’s oblivious bravado reflected in his tailored suits, Ivy’s chaotic flair in her evolving restaurant attire. It’s why I described the film as “a comedic slap-in-the-face, delivered by a flawless ensemble cast and accompanied by beautiful cinematography, gorgeous set design, and perfectly paired costumes. It’s literally the whole package.” That phrase, repeated in jest throughout the film, doubles as both cheeky innuendo and a mission statement — proof of how cohesive the film’s design elements truly are.

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And yet, for all its gloss, The Roses sometimes feels like a comedy unwilling to go for the jugular. Danny DeVito’s 1989 version, fueled by the shared history of Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, thrived on the sheer ferocity of its leads. Roach’s film, while tart and entertaining, softens the sting. McNamara’s script injects plenty of venom, but the narrative structure — divided into chapters named after divorce contract clauses — feels schematic rather than explosive. By the final act, when Theo and Ivy’s dream home becomes their ultimate battleground, the set pieces dazzle but the emotional catharsis feels muted. It’s stylish, starry, and darkly entertaining — but missing that final punch, despite the implied boom.

For audiences new to The War of the Roses, this reimagining offers a glossy, sharp-edged marital farce anchored by two of Britain’s finest actors at the top of their game. For those who remember the original, it may feel more like a clever remix than a reinvention. Still, Colman and Cumberbatch alone make it worth the price of admission. Their performances cut so cleanly, you almost wish the rest of the film bled as much as they do.

RATING: ★★★★☆

Credits

Release Date: Friday, August 29, 2025 | Searchlight Pictures

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon, Allison Janney, Zoë Chao, Ncuti Gatwa

Director: Jay Roach

Screenwriter: Tony McNamara (adapted from The War of the Roses by Warren Adler)

Out Now: In theaters

Rating: R

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