We almost certainly know whenever we meet somebody who's perfect for us. Somebody to complete our sentences; somebody who can read our minds. For Theo and Ivy Rose, they have the whole package; they are crazy for each other, but they also drive each other completely insane. In Jay Roach's readaptation of Warren Adler's The War of the Roses, he and writer Tony McNamara attempt to ruminate on the pitfalls of modern love in an irreverent romantic comedy. However, there's two cardinal sins that The Roses commit in modernizing this tale; it's not very funny, and it's just incredibly uninteresting. 

 

Tony McNamara's script on this modern take is interesting - Theo and Ivy act like the perfect pair whose paths just seem to collide in the worst way possible. Theo's career drops into turmoil, while Ivy's business blossoms - stoking the resentment for the rest of the film. There's something interesting to talk about within the fine print of this script, but Jay Roach just doesn't find anything particularly worth talking about that hasn't been talked about many times. 

 

At times I was reminded of Baumbach's Marriage Story, and how it talked about the conditions of the marriage failing in that film - here it walks almost in the same conversation points, but there's always a need to undercut the deep sadness of their situation with a cynical humor that makes everything dramatic near indigestible. Roach has zero to no interest in adding any angle or twist in this story that's unique or even all that thought provoking, and what makes it worse is that the filmmaking here is so pedestrian. 

 

The cast is fine, but the pairings are quite awkward. Cumberbatch and Colman work quite well together, but put their chemistry up against SNL alums Andy Samberg and Kate McKinnon you get this stew of awkward taste and smell. All four of these people are funny, but in different ways, and when trying to mesh them together, there's just kind of a weird feeling witnessing them interact. However, this film doesn't exactly allow them much room to really try anything really fun in their performances; it's so weird seeing actors known for taking big risks in their expressions be in performances that feel so safe and restrained. 

It's just so massively disappointing. You have very promising material to get an interesting take out of this story, but every effort is wasted. The Roses just is a failure to launch in any direction. McNamara's script wants to draw some interesting talking points about modern love, but it never quite gets there; Jay Roach's direction is also incredibly uninspired, giving something that's a painful, unfunny bore to sit through.