Speaker 1: Welcome back to real reviews. Today, we're looking at The Roses,
Speaker 1: Jay Roach's satirical black comedy that reimagines Warren Adler's classic
Speaker 1: novel The War of the Roses. Now, many will remember
Speaker 1: the nineteen eighty nine film starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner,
Speaker 1: but this version gives a story a modern twist, starring
Speaker 1: Bennett Cumberbatch and Olivia Coleman, is less a straight remake
Speaker 1: and more of a reinterpretation about ambition ego in the
Speaker 1: race thin Line between Love and hate. Now, the setup
Speaker 1: is deceptively simple. Theo Rose played by cumberbatchs is a
Speaker 1: celebrated architect whose career takes a sudden nosedive. His wife,
Speaker 1: Ivy played by Coleman, launches a restaurant on a whim
Speaker 1: that unexpectedly takes off. At first, their dynamic feels balance.
Speaker 1: One partner falters while the other thrives. But as Theo
Speaker 1: throws himself into building a dream house with Ivy's money
Speaker 1: and Ivy doubles down on expanding her business to fund
Speaker 1: his obsession, cracks begin to spread through their picture perfect marriage.
Speaker 1: Now what follows is a twisted dance of love curdling
Speaker 1: into resentment. Unlike the darker tone of Danny DeVito's nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty nine adaptation, Roach leans into satire and humor to
Speaker 1: explore the absurdity of marital warfare. Now that doesn't mean
Speaker 1: that the venom is gone, it's just tempted by iron. Now,
Speaker 1: where the original felt like a cautionary tale of destruction,
Speaker 1: this one occasionally feels like a Rye commentary on modern ambition,
Speaker 1: gender roles, and how success and failure reshape intimacy. Now,
Speaker 1: cumber Batch and Coleman are excellent together. Their chemistry evolves
Speaker 1: believably from devotion to disdain, giving the story weight beyond
Speaker 1: its satire. Their performances crackle with passionate precisions, showing how
Speaker 1: easily admiration can become competitive and how quickly shared dreams
Speaker 1: can turn into weapons. The supporting cast Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon,
Speaker 1: Alison Janny add bite and comic relief. But this is
Speaker 1: very much the Benedict and Olivia's show the house just
Speaker 1: like an Atler's novel, and the original film is the
Speaker 1: emotional epicenter. It's not just the symbol of security. It
Speaker 1: becomes a bad embodying both Field's pride and Ivy's growing
Speaker 1: resentment watching their dream house morph into a cage makes
Speaker 1: the comedy sting all the more. Jay Roach doesn't quite
Speaker 1: match the brutal finality of the Veto's film, but he
Speaker 1: brings his own sensibility sly, witty, and occasionally hopeful. The
Speaker 1: result is a film that nods to its predecessor but
Speaker 1: stands on its own, balancing satire with a surprisingly humane edge.
Speaker 1: I gave the Roses a B. That's it for this
Speaker 1: episode of real Reviews. For the full review and more
Speaker 1: commentary on the evolution of this story from page to screen,
Speaker 1: visit us at the film Gordon dot com. Until next time,
Speaker 1: Keep it real, but always keep it real. N