Film Review: The Roses

Welcome back to the blog readers. As you know, a good comedy is hard to come by these days. You can sacrifice some story but you need to make the audience laugh, and that has been the biggest issue a lot of modern comedies have been running into. Hearing about this film and having a great time with The Naked Gun (2025) gave me hope that this film would not fit that same mold. Could it walk the walk instead of just talking the talk? Stick around to find out.

The Roses was directed by Jay Roach from a screenplay by Tony McNamara, based on the novel The War of the Roses by Warren Adler. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, Andy Samberg, Allison Janney, Belinda Bromilow, Sunita Mani, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Demetriou, Zoë Chao, and Kate McKinnon. In the film, a successful couple in a seemingly perfect marriage begin to notice it falling apart in front of their own eyes.

I saw the trailer for this film and knew it could be special based on some of those hilarious lines we get. Kate McKinnon, a gay woman, mouthing "I will fuck you" to Benedict Cumberbatch is really what sold me on the possibility of this film. And being hopeful that the rest of the film would be as funny and delightful as the trailers really made it worth it when it was. Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman are dynamite in this film, and the laughs are just as uncomfortable as they need to be for me.

One of my absolute favorite people in the business has to be Benedict Cumberbatch. From his turn in the Hobbit films The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), to The Imitation Game (also 2014), to the MCU as Doctor Strange, Cumberbatch has proven that he deserves to be in these high-profile roles. But him doing comedy and being so god damn good at it is just leaving me jealous. His deadpan and sarcastic delivery as Theo Rose gets me every single time, and his chemistry with fellow co-star Olivia Colman is most excellent. If he ever leaves the MCU, he may just take up more comedic roles because he can do it, damnit.

Speaking of Academy Award winner Olivia Colman (that should be the end of the conversation), she was phenomenal as Ivy Rose. Colman is a gifted actor who has received almost every accolade you could dream of in the business, appearing in projects like The Favourite (2018), Empire of Light (2022), Heartstopper (2022-), Wonka (2023), and The Bear (2022-). So a comedic turn from her as Ivy Rose is just as delectable as anything. Her maniacal and over-the top nature makes for a compelling watch, and her unmistakable chemistry with Cumberbatch makes this one of the best pairings of the year.

I next want to talk about the reason why we all went to see this film, and that has to be the comedy. Writer Tony McNamara has worked on the films The Favourite (aka the film that won Olivia Colman her Oscar), Cruella (2021), and Poor Things (2023), so he has a stylistic sense of humor that only he has. So hearing things like the aforementioned "I will fuck you" line or when Colman playfully says about Cumberbatch's character, "Sometimes he's got his cock in me and I can't even tell" really tell you that not only was McNamara willing to take bold risks with this film, but they were willing to push the envelope when necessary. Can't wait for all the kiddies to accidentally put this on when it eventually comes to Disney+/Hulu.

And I want to end this review by talking about the story that we get in this film. Again, all the credit for the wild and wacky story has to go to McNamara because of those aforementioned bold risks. This film being based on a popular book already has its work cut out for it, but the themes that this film tackles like success, familial roles, and obsession are all relatable in a seemingly heightened world. This film won't get any Oscar attention (as it shouldn't), but its themes are timeless as love itself, and I will not be surprised if we get another adaptation of the book in another 40 years.

In conclusion, The Roses tackles timeless themes in an extremely raunchy way, and gives us new dynamics to its lead performers. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.