'The Roses' Wages a Better War Than Danny DeVito's Film Did
Here's a rare instance where the remake surpasses the original. Danny DeVito's adaptation of Warren Adler's 1981 novel was over-the-top, insane fun. Jay Roach's The Roses is a blend of intellectual comedy and slapstick, with a slight emphasis on smarts over physicality. Don't worry, the film isn't some dry, snobby Downton Abbey humor that only your smug friend, who you rarely talk to, or grandma would enjoy. The Roses still hits hard like the 1989 original. It gets weird, violent, and disgusting. 90% of the humor works, with the exception of one pivotal scene that relies on bad CGI. That and Kate McKinnon doing jokes where she's being awkwardly sexual. Because it's not Kate McKinnon if she's not relying on her private areas for humor. Aside from those two issues, what a comedy!
From the get-go, it's clear the film isn't going in the same directional as the original. It's not featuring the divorce lawyer poring over the details to some random client about the tragedy of the Roses. Instead, it opens like most dysfunctional marriage movies do. With couples therapy that doesn't end well. For the therapist at least. While Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Ivy Rose (Olivia Colman) trade verbal blows at each other, they end up finding humor in their insults instead of anger. Their crass vernacular turns off the therapist, who advises that they divorce. Later, the movie jumps back to this scene, which isn't particularly necessary.
There's a slight nonlinear structure to The Roses that mostly works. The only times it doesn't is when the film overstuffs its cast with characters we hardly remember. The only thing that can be remembered about one of the more forgettable characters is the unfortunate size of his member, which his wife discloses at a dinner party to embarrass him. Most of the supporting cast exists for good reason, while other characters could have been cut. Seriously, Kate McKinnon is talented, but every word out of her mouth is "my vagina" this and "my coochie" that. It's like watching an amateur comedian talk about their genitalia because they have nothing more clever to say. Kate has a gift that can be utilized for different jokes. Please work on that.
If there was one thing that was particularly missing in the original that the remake capitalizes upon, it's the relationship with the children. The original War of the Roses film made the kids seem non-existent. The thing that made Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner's characters so deplorable was the total neglect they displayed towards their children. In the remake, it's the father who has a healthy relationship with his kids, while the mother tries to embrace them, but is too busy to bond with them. Meanwhile, Dad has a lot of free time on his hands ever since losing his career due to a viral video of one of his architectural pieces being blown apart by a storm. The viral fame doesn't seem to bother Theo as much as it probably should. If one almost lost their career by being immortalized through a singular humiliating online moment, wouldn't they seem a little more crushed?
Luckily, Ivy is the breadwinner of the house. She's a highly achieved chef who can afford a huge house? She helped train Carmen Berzatto in The Bear and returns to the kitchen in this film. Roach's movie is more culturally aware than the '89 flick. Mrs. Rose's profession is more descriptive, and she's less cold-hearted than in the original. Ivy doesn't just decide one day to tell her husband that she wants to murder him for no given reason. There's more buildup to the blowup this time around. The mounting tension to the (clears throat) climactic ending is well earned with a degree of nuance and bombast you could expect from a director whose versatility ranges from slapstick comedy to political commentaries.
The dialog in the film is snappy. As someone tired of sex jokes, the fornication gags work pretty well here, as the joke isn't about the awkwardness of exchanging bodily fluids. It's deeper than that. The sex jokes are more about belittling your partner to gain superiority. Where The War of the Roses goes on the batso scale from 1-10, this film is more of an 8 with little room for subtlety.
The Roses is a great comedy that doesn't quite dissect or gloss over marital issues. It merely mocks them while providing downright honesty, where you'll be choosing who's right and who's wrong. More specifically, who's a worse person? In the original, I thought it was the wife. In this case, it's the husband who's the real monster, until Ivy uses A.I. to falsify evidence, causing irreparable damage to Theo's career after it has already been bombed.
Comedy is the hardest category to master, but Jay Roach has done it, and his career has grown, much like Adam McKay’s. Although we know from the source material where the Roses will end up, Jay Roach still attempts to create an unexpected comedy filled with high- and low-brow humor. Instead of topping itself with zany antics (which there still are many), Writer Tony McNamara decided to pen a screenplay that shows how the Roses' relationship develops. Hint, it's nonbelievably horny, yet most of the character building is fantastic. Making people laugh for 90 minutes straight is a remarkable achievement that very few people can accomplish. Making people laugh, then think about why they laughed, is an even bigger one. The Roses might be one of the best comedies of the year, which gives you something to ponder when driving home. Just don't think about using the rat poison on your partner, no matter how much they drive you up the wall.
