Take two of this country’s finest and highly respected actors, the director of the Austin Powers and Meet The Parents movies, the writer of The Favourite and Poor Things and a film based on a best-selling book that has already been made into a popular movie from 1989, and what do you expect you will get? A masterpiece? A comedy classic? I wish this were the case. In fact, The Roses is quite possibly the most disappointing movie of the year. A film that is so full of venom that it leaves a bad taste in the mouth, that you just want to wash your mouth out with soap after viewing it.

Theo is regarded as a great architect. His wife, Ivy, is a great chef who runs a small restaurant that has become almost a hobby. They have a loving relationship and two free-spirited kids. One fateful night sees the destruction of one of Theo’s buildings, and events that lead to Ivy’s restaurant becoming an overnight success, see the pair having to swap their lives, and this brings on pressure that leads them down a path of self-destruction.

Danny DeVito took the original book and turned it into the darkly comic The War of the Roses, which saw Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner go from happily married to a horrible and brutal divorce. While the film touched on some very dark areas, it was nothing compared to Tony McNamara’s script. It starts off pleasantly enough, with Theo and Ivy living a very idyllic life, she making masterpieces in her kitchen for her family, while he is becoming the toast of the architecture world. Things take a turn for the worse when he loses his job and she is recognised for her culinary skills. Perfectly fine as a concept, and as a movie about two people navigating a painful divorce, it’s fine. The problem is the way it approaches the issue.

Direct Jay Roach appears to permit the couple to engage in an all-out war. Where DeVito’s film was brutal in places, it was funny as well. This lacks any real humour, but just seems to be nasty. It doesn’t help that the most entertaining parts of the film are there in the trailer, including most of the final act. Every line seems to be brimming with bile, and the language is never funny, but spat out with such viciousness that in some places it just feels uncomfortable.

What also worked for the previous movie is that, despite their mutual dislike, you find yourself sympathising with them. By the end of that movie, the final scene is almost poignant. Here, they just come across as hateful, and when the finale comes, there’s a sense of caring less. Not the fault of the performers, but definitely the writer and the director.

The cast is full of good, strong comedy performers. Saturday Night Live’s Kate McKinnon does her all-out weird as a family friend with a crush on Theo, and she is amusing in a strange way. As Ivy’s lawyer, Allison Janney has one scene and steals the film from everyone, making you long for a movie of her own.

The real disappointment is that having Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch in the leads should be a dream come true. They make this almost a must-see. While they throw everything they have at Ivy and Theo, with excellent chemistry, it is overshadowed by the fact that they cannot save this from being such a hateful film. Both stars are such lovely, funny, charming people that to watch them be so violent verbally and, by the final act, physically, it’s almost crushing. One particular shock is using someone’s allergy and an EPI-PEN as blackmail, just isn’t right at all, and definitely doesn’t make you laugh.

The Roses could be the most disgusting movie of the year. It certainly isn’t funny, and each moment seems to drag the story out even more. I never found myself on either character’s side, and I left without caring how they ended up. They deserved it. All this film made me want to watch the 1989 version again.

1 out of 5

Director: Jay Roach

Starring: Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adam Sandberg, Kate McKinnon, Allison Janney, Ncuti Gatwa, Zoe Chao, Jamie Demetriou, Delaney Quinn, Hala Finley, Ollie Robinson, Wells Rappaport

Written by: Tony McNamara and (based upon the novel The War of the Roses) Warren Adler

Running Time: 105 mins

Cert: 15

Release date: 29th August 2025