The Roses

The film struggles with pacing, as its first half feels sluggish and uninspired, offering little to capture attention. The second half fares no better, unfolding like an elongated trailer. Since nearly all the standout moments are already showcased in the trailer, the movie ultimately lacks real impact.

It's a dark comedy about marriage set from 2011 to 2025, briefly in London, England, but mainly in Mendocino, California. Theo Rose (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a frustrated, idealistic architect who wants his designs to reflect their environment. He meets Ivy (Olivia Colman), who dabbles at gourmet cooking and hankers to move to America. They impulsively marry and move to California, where in ten years Theo starts a flourishing career while Ivy raises their twin children, Hattie (Hala Finney/Delaney Quinn) and Roy (Wells Rappaport/Ollie Robinson). We also meet some friends, such as Barry (Andy Samberg) and Amy (Kate McKinnon). As things are going well, Ivy starts a small seafood restaurant with Theo's support.

Suddenly, in 2021, a major disaster turns their lives upside down--Theo loses his position and takes over raising the kids, while Ivy's restaurant suddenly becomes a major success. Their relationship deteriorates amid acerbic dialogue and conflict avoidance, culminating in an explosive climax.

I like both Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman as actors, and believe they deliver excellent performances in "The Roses," as the script features clever, edgy repartee between their characters, and their chemistry is outstanding. However, the secondary characters don't work as well. The Barry and Amy characters are memorable, but most others are not. The Allison Janney character has her best lines in the trailer.

I was genuinely excited to see The Roses, especially with two acting giants like Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman sharing the screen in a comedy. I'm a big fan of both, and their performances are, unsurprisingly, excellent. But sadly, the film itself left me disappointed.

The core message-that a successful marriage requires moving beyond ego and embracing the "we" instead of the "me"-is clear and perhaps one of the few valuable takeaways. But as a comedy, the film just doesn't land. I went in ready to laugh, and aside from a few exceptions, the humor fell flat.

The inclusion of the surrounding friend group, meant to serve as comic relief (with Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg), only made things worse. Their roles feel forced and unfunny, adding little to the film and often taking away from the central story.

In the end, The Roses feels like a drama disguised as a comedy-and it doesn't quite succeed at either. Maybe the real problem was walking in with high expectations. Unfortunately, they were never met.

Benedict Cumberbach and Olivia Colman excelled as usual in their roles, but I wish their pairing was a little more believable, but despite that, they carried the film. However, some of the other characters were a little unrealistic and over the top like Kim McKinnon and Andy Samberg. The actress did their best, but the situations created were a little unrealistic. The film just did not seem believable - for instance, why would you keep around friends who are always trying to undermine you, the couple seemed to have no real friends, and the children were like exercise robots!

The film tried too hard to be funny, and therefore took out some of the emotion and humanity that would have made it more relatable. There was no teenage angst from the children. The coworkers in the restaurant were given much more screen time in an attempt at humor, than Allison Janney, who was great as usual in her brief role as the lawyer.

The older "War of the Roses film" somehow had real passion and the heart that this film lacked. After the set up of the marketing and the trailer, the actual film left me disappointed.

Olivia Colman & Benedict Cumberbatch were sublime as usual. No notes.

Andy Samberg also did the best he could and somehow managed to not make his character seem annoying given the writing.

The movie needed a lot more Allison Janney who was great for the few minutes she was in and a lot less Kate McKinnon whose character was just absurd and over the top for no reason. Did not find her remotely funny.

None of the other characters were fully formed and you couldn't care less about them. Wasted some really talented actors like Ncuti Gatwa in throw away roles.