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The Roses

131 replies

Silvercoconut · 30/08/2025 00:08

Anyone seen? With Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch. Saw it this evening,
Sort of like War of the Roses, hysterically laugh out loud funny in parts, Olivia is just wonderful. Some quite sad moments too. Recommended!

OP posts:
SpamBeansAndWaffles · 07/09/2025 17:26

I will not go and see it because of the awful food allergy EpiPen scene

LaurieFairyCake · 07/09/2025 17:45

I’ve not seen it yet but the first film is really dark and sad and I’ve not wanted to see the new one. I’m going to need to google to see if they murder each others pets before I see it.

redfairy · 08/09/2025 23:24

I watched this tonight at my local Odeon after rewatching the original last night. I don't think you could beat the drama of the chandelier scene of the original which was very moving. The new film did portray the more realistic emotional side of a divorce though when although you could willingly kill them but also have regret for the love that has been lost. The only thing I'd have changed would be to set it all in the UK and lose Kate Mckinnon, who I love, but not in this film.

Funderthighs · 12/09/2025 22:45

I’ve just seen it and thought the original film was much better with a much more interesting ending. Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas had a real chemistry which I thought was lacking between Olivia Coleman and Benedict Cumberbatch. Olivia Coleman just played herself with that inane grin which she seems to turn on and off no matter what part she plays. I was really disappointed.

SaratogaFilly · 12/09/2025 23:07

How did War of the Roses end @Funderthighsas I can’t remember?!

Clueless12389 · 12/09/2025 23:15

I quite enjoyed it, it was q funny.

OC’s wardrobe was absolutely hideous though

Funderthighs · 12/09/2025 23:21

SaratogaFilly · 12/09/2025 23:07

How did War of the Roses end @Funderthighsas I can’t remember?!

It ended with Kathleen Turner & Michael Douglas hanging from a chandelier above the cavernous hallway of their house. It began to fall but by bit, due to their weight then crashed to the ground.

longtompot · 12/09/2025 23:34

I'd forgotten how much I liked the original film, must watch it again soon. The way KT and MD spoke to each other, you could almost feel they were actually the married couple that now hated each other.
If this one is coming to streaming I think I will have to watch it that way

EscapadeVelocity · 13/09/2025 01:06

Interesting that a pp said OC lacked credibility as a chef - she had a tiny part in The Bear, as a chef, and was just astonishing. Stayed in my mind for weeks afterwards.

I found this film as disappointing as all the reviews said it would be. There was no real bite. And while I think I could have believed in them as a couple in a drama, it just didn’t work with this sort of ditsy comedy. Maybe because the script was so oddly balanced and paced. And absolutely nothing regarding the children was ever close to anything real.

£13.50 ticket. Sunday afternoon auditorium about a quarter full.

BrandyandGinger · 14/09/2025 21:14

I really enjoyed it. That might be partly because I hadn't been to the cinema in about six month and partly because I loved OC's shirts in it. Obviously, it was totally OTT but parts of it were realistic about divorce and quite sad.
It was nice to be in a cinema watching a film starring a woman of my own age. There aren't nearly enough of them.

Sausagenbacon · 15/09/2025 06:32

The significant thing about the end of the War of the Roses was that, when they were lying on the floor dying, he reaches out to hold her hand and she pushes it away.

ExquisitelyDecorating · 15/09/2025 06:47

I went yesterday, free Sky cinema tickets, the screen was full and a lot of laughter throughout, so I don't think it's flopped. I'd give it 3/5, I thought it was well acted, funny, shocking in places. OC wasn't totally convincing as a chef, and the ending wasn't quite what I was expecting.

SisterMaryLuke · 17/09/2025 13:30

Just been to see this and wish I hadn't bothered. I loved the original film. OC was exactly like she always is, BC was fairly good. The writing was weak. The cinema had 7 people in and I didn't hear any laughs. I felt it did get slightly better from the dinner party scene and beyond and I enjoyed all the swearing!

WeeGeeBored · 21/09/2025 09:47

jonthebatiste · 30/08/2025 21:03

I think I’d enjoy it but I just cannot stand Olivia Coleman. She’s so insufferably up herself, and actually outright rude to people in interviews etc but gets away with it by playing a ditzy English lass or pretending to be self-deprecating. She’s very arrogant and barely keeps a lid on it. Shame, as the rest of the cast is amazing.

I find the “daffiness” really annoying, but I guess that kind of daffy poshness goes a long way in Hollywood where they are still very deferential to the Brits. I hadn’t noticed the arrogance. I guess people always think that is what underlies self deprecation but it might just be that she really is that self deprecating. I still find her annoying though. And for that reason I couldn’t watch the film either. And I am not keen on dolphin face BC. And I found the original film too dark and violent to be funny. So I’m out.

IwanttotakeyoutoaNailaBar · 21/09/2025 09:50

@WeeGeeBored dolphin face BC

😂😂😂 spot on!

WeeGeeBored · 21/09/2025 09:50

SisterMaryLuke · 17/09/2025 13:30

Just been to see this and wish I hadn't bothered. I loved the original film. OC was exactly like she always is, BC was fairly good. The writing was weak. The cinema had 7 people in and I didn't hear any laughs. I felt it did get slightly better from the dinner party scene and beyond and I enjoyed all the swearing!

She’s like the female middle aged version of Hugh Grant in his rom-com era - all faffy bashfulness, perpetual embarrassment and self loathing - all totally performative.

if Hugh Grant ever reads this (who knows as a dad he may sometimes get on MN): you are a much better actor as you age. Somehow more genuine and that really comes through whether you are playing an Oompah Loompah or a psychopath. Note to OC: drop the act and be yourself. Then you might attain great heights as an actor.

EscapadeVelocity · 21/09/2025 14:19

But she already has …

The Favourite
The Lost Daughter
The Bear (tiny part)

Plus one or two earlier things. I’ve just rewatched all of The Night Manager and she wasn’t at all daffy in that. It wasn’t Oscar level but it was ok.

SemmaLina · 25/09/2025 21:02

Saw it this afternoon
l thought it was absolutely dreadful
So disappointed

paranoidnamechanger · 25/09/2025 21:12

One of my mates wants me to see it with her but nope - it’s a Fox Searchlight production so should be on Disney + by Christmas.

echt · 01/10/2025 21:42

Clueless12389 · 12/09/2025 23:15

I quite enjoyed it, it was q funny.

OC’s wardrobe was absolutely hideous though

I was distracted by how terrible Olivia Colman‘s clothes were too.
It was as if the entire contents of the Oliver Bonas’s range had been decanted into California. Ugly, loud and ill-fitting.

Meredusoleil · 24/11/2025 15:06

Just watched this today. So much unnecessary swearing and sexual comments.

Was left wondering if they blew both themselves and the house up at the end or what? Or has it been left open deliberately to allow for a sequel?

Much preferred the original War of the Roses with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.

IPartridge · 05/12/2025 21:28

Was ok to watch while feeling unwell on the sofa.

Strange to have tried to pass Devon off as california!

WeeGeeBored · 05/12/2025 21:32

Meredusoleil · 24/11/2025 15:06

Just watched this today. So much unnecessary swearing and sexual comments.

Was left wondering if they blew both themselves and the house up at the end or what? Or has it been left open deliberately to allow for a sequel?

Much preferred the original War of the Roses with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.

Edited

Yes, can someone please explain the ending. If they do blow themselves up - what a terrible thing to do to their kids. Cumberbatch Flambé.

paranoidnamechanger · 05/12/2025 21:56

As I predicted back in August, it's now streaming on Disney+, although a bit later in the year than I thought.

I laughed a few times and Allison Janney stole the film in her five minutes on screen, but thought the coarseness was jarring and I think the film would have been better if the early teen kids' leaving to another side of the country due to sports scholarships could have been developed a little more as this was a crucial reason why the Roses grew apart.

My biggest problem was that BC and OC - as good actors as they are - couldn't convince me as a couple because their chemistry wasn't great and she looked more like someone playing his big sister rather than his wife. OC's accent was odd...like she thought she was in an episode of EastEnders. I also couldn't buy the Andy Samberg and Kate McKinnon characters as husband and wife.

I was also distracted by those Devon locations trying and failing to look like a part of north west California.

I'm a literal person, clearly!

RoverReturn · 06/12/2025 00:36

Just watched it. Thought it was good, but glad I didn't see it in the cinema as not that good.

Weird that they filmed it in Devon and pretended it was Cailfornia. Why not pretend its the East Coast of America? That would be more believable in terms of habitat.

Which bit of Devon , North or South Coast?