The Wasteland Reviewer

The Roses (2025) Written Review

Who doesn’t love some marital disfunctions on the big screen? War of the Roses is a beloved film by director Danny DeVito and the fiery leading pair of Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. You might not expect this film of all films to get a remake in 2025…but that is the state of cinema today. The Roses takes this idea of a deteriorating marriage and runs with it in a modern context. You have the screenwriter of some of Yorgos Lanthimos’ bigger films, Tony McNamara. You have the director of Austin Powers and Meet the Parents, Jay Roach. You have the powerful leading duo of Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch. What can go wrong? Well…besides the marriage in the story. 

Does this remake capture the same energy and appeal of DeVito’s original? This film feels like it has a focused yet myopic perspective on the story. For the most part, this is a fully farcical approach to the story with everything turned up and little subtly at all. That feels like it is a disservice to the story which has a human relationship at the core. There are few moments where Roach can find humanity in this situation. Instead, The Roses goes for nonstop laughs…which is certainly delivered on. There are some gags that go too far to garner laughs but this is a wild ride from start to finish. Roach finds a few fleeting moments of real emotion that honestly teases the audience into thinking this film might dig deeper than it does. More silly than authentic, this turns out to be a much hollower experience than what could have been. There isn’t much from a filmmaking standpoint that makes The Roses stand out so Roach leans deeply into the laughs to keep the audience interested. 

Does McNamara’s script deepen the experience at all? One thing is for sure, McNamara sequences plenty of laughs into this zippy dark martial comedy. The dialogue is biting and sharp in many cruel ways and it forces the audience to reckon with the cruelty on display. Unfortunately, these two characters are so unlikeable and show such little humanity that it is hard to empathize with them or root for them either way. The characters around them (including their children) are so one-dimensional that you struggle to care about the ripple effects on them too. The laughs and sharp dialogue are there but there are few moments in McNamara’s script (outside a scene involving a whale) that deepen the experience. McNamara does accomplish challenging the audience in navigating allegiances through its constant barrage of negativity and bad behavior. But when you have so much bad behavior, it loses its effect. Once the film “jumps the shark” in its third act into murderous behavior, the film loses all its bite and tension.

Does the cast provide some of the heavy lifting at least? Hands down, Colman and Cumberbatch make this movie. Both are hilarious. Their line deliveries and their comedic timing is so sharp and on point. There are few moments that give them space to flex their dramatic chops, and they HIT. These two are incredible actors and they elevate the material with their presence and handle a variety of emotions. The children are almost non-characters, and the young performers do their best with that. The supporting cast is stacked too. Andy Samberg is hilarious with his supporting turn as Cumberbatch’s best friend and lawyer. Kate McKinnon is hilarious…to an extent. Her character’s behavior goes a little too far and the gags become a little too polarizing to always enjoy. Ncuti Gatwa makes great use of his limited screentime with some great one-liners. Sunita Mani, Zoe Chao, and Jamie Demetriou all get their moments. In a one scene performance, Allison Janney comes…to…play. She arrives, is vicious, and walks out a scene stealer. 

Does The Roses warrant its remake existence? This reimagining looks good and has some impressive production design. There are plenty of laughs along the way which makes for such a fun and wild ride while it lasts. There are fleeting moments of something truly special here, especially in the hands of Colman and Cumberbatch. But the lack of depth and humanity leaves this a fun yet shallow retread of a killer idea.