Tovic Salvador

Article (news)

Fred Hawson

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1756602375610The-Roses-Main-2025.webp" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch in &#x27;The Roses&#x27;</div>British architect Theo Rose (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his chef wife Ivy (Olivia Colman) migrated from London to Mendocino, California, USA to reboot their respective careers. For the first 10 years, Ivy had put aside her career plans so that she can raise their two children Hattie and Roy. Theo had risen through the ranks to be the lead architect of the new maritime museum. In 2021, Theo gave Ivy her own restaurant, which she called We Got Crabs. On the inauguration day of the museum, a very bad storm blew in from the sea and totally destroyed Theo&#x27;s. Meanwhile, the same storm diverted a lot of unexpected customers into Ivy&#x27;s restaurant, one of whom was a noted food critic from the city.  So, on the very day that Theo was fired from his job, Ivy&#x27;s sales at her humble restaurant began shooting through the roof. With this, the couple had to make some big adjustments in their lives.This husband vs. wife scenario was based on a 1981 novel by Warren Adler entitled &quot;The War of the Roses,&quot; alluding to the 15th century battle between the White Rose of York vs. the Red Rose of Lancaster for the throne of England. This was made into a hit 1989 movie of the same title directed by Danny de Vito, starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. This story involved a heart attack of husband which triggered the sudden change of heart of wife.In this reboot, the road that led to the Rose couple&#x27;s divorce was more subtle than that of the original story. Director Jay Roach (&quot;Austin Powers,&quot; &quot;Meet the Parents&quot;) and writer Tony McNamara (&quot;The Favourite,&quot; &quot;Poor Things&quot;) took their time building up to that dire decision. Theo and Ivy seemed to still be giving each other chances along the way, until this chance encounter with a beached whale (of all things) pushed things over the edge.Making the couple originally British made McNamara&#x27;s screenplay drip with sarcastic British witticisms which Cumberbatch and Colman can deliver with flair. Colman may feel miscast as Cumberbatch&#x27;s wife, but eventually she settled into the role.  There were also more intrusive participation by friends here who can be very annoying -- lawyer Barry (Andy Samberg) and his wife Amy (Kate McKinnon), rival Rory (Jamie Demetriou) and his wife Sally (Zoe Chao). As an update for this new film, the new house under contention was equipped with AI that followed their every command, a feature used to annoy the hell out of their partner during their climactic battle. Here, the final scene was bittersweet but dark, despite a fade-to-white ending. However, I still believe that the equivalent scene from the original, after the chandelier fell with them on it, was more memorable for being so heartless. <div> </div>This review was originally published in the author&#x27;s blog, “<a href="https://said-fred.blogspot.com/2025/08/review-of-roses-damaging-divorce.html">Fred Said</a>.”

Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman bring sharp humor and simmering tension to ‘The Roses,’ Jay Roach’s sly update of the classic marital war.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman bring sharp humor and simmering tension to ‘The Roses,’ Jay Roach’s sly update of the classic marital war.

Movie review: British wit meets bitter divorce in ‘The Roses’

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Movie review: British wit meets bitter divorce in ‘The Roses’

Fred Hawson

Published August 31, 2025 09:15 AM PHT

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The Roses

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