Every relationship you have in life will end poorly. Every.Single.One. No matter how close you are, the relationship will end, eventually, in sadness or anger or apathy. This is true of every relationship you ever have – personal, professional, casual, familiar. This is the nature of relationships and perhaps why they are so important to us – because we know this is true and we have to milk an enjoyable relationship while it remains enjoyable … because one day it will end in tears or anger or apathy.
So whaddaya say we make this one a laugh riot, huh?
The Roses (Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch) are on the verge of divorce. They’ve gotten to the mean stage where the couple has turned their love into hate and can’t wait to express it. But, so far, they have remained civil and haven’t yet lost their collective sense of humor.
Well … just wait. Cuz divorce isn’t a comedy. Not usually, at least.
The film begins with the two in couples’ therapy where they seem to be having a ball at the expense of their therapist. Oh, why can’t all divorce be like this?
Then the film takes us back to their meet-cute, which turned out to be a meet-screw in a restaurant refrigeration storage room. Boy, good on ya, mate! I’m not sure I’d be able to perform in sub-zero temperatures; that’s quite a mountin’ to scale. Well, this film is both comedy and fantasy, isn’t it?
Speaking of fantasy, The Roses soon move to California. I do not know the era in which two foreign people could just up and move to the United States without having to undergo a world of pain, but it certainly isn’t now. Theo (Cumberbatch) is an architect; Ivy (Colman) is a chef. As his career is progressing nicely, he buys a restaurant for her, awwwww. Isn’t that sweet?
And then the critical night happens – Theo’s new design, a maritime museum, is unveiled in Monterey on a stormy night while Ivy’s floundering restaurant “We’ve Got Crabs” finally gets some customers due to re-routed traffic. Theo’s magnificent ship-like design collapses on itself in the storm (wow, good thing it wasn’t unveiled with people in it, huh?) while Ivy’s restaurant gets a glowing review, spurring an unprecedented level of success. His giant failure combined with her giant success spurs, essentially, the feelings that will end their marriage.
This, of course, raises one of the major questions in a marriage: Is love jealous? Would you be bitter if your partner were more successful than you? The problem here, I think, is that Theo and
Ivy are both such narcissists that not only will they define themselves by their imprint on the world, they will also be slaves to that imprint. Both of them are suckers for independent, anonymous adoration.
And this is where the story gets … “fun.”
I remember the original War of the Roses. I wasn’t married at the time, yet found it difficult to watch the intense hatred between Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. This film, despite arguably better talent in the leads, played the relationship gaming much more for laughs. Several of the most bitter moments included SNL veterans Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg as “friends of the family.” (McKinnon’s free-love shtick made the film for me).
I can’t say I necessarily found the film unrealistic as it was intended to be a dark comedy; the situations are exaggerated on purpose: Do we really believe Theo saves a whale? Or that Ivy goes from stay-at-home mom to “can go months without seeing her children” overnight? Unlikely. The Roses is intended to show how love transforms into hate and warn us against such. Are we listening? Well, maybe if the film were written a little more sharply.
The once was a couple, The Roses
With very large egos, we supposes
Their careers and connections
Went in different directions
Leaving their marriage as a shanty one bulldozes
Rated R, 105 Minutes
Director: Jay Roach
Writer: Warren Adler, Tony McNamara
Genre: The lighter side of divorce
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who can laugh at their own pain
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Pollyannas
