The Roses
Sometimes the best thing about a film isn’t what’s on the screen but who you’re watching it with. The Roses played to a full house, and the crowd was primed—Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch had dashed in late, Colman sheepishly admitting she’d gone to the wrong cinema, before wrapping up an intro in under two minutes.
The audience was warmed up and happy to lean into the jokes, which landed often enough to keep spirits high. The film itself is good fun: glossy, sharp in places, and for a portrait of a toxic marriage, oddly sweet-natured—more Cosmo Kramer than Kramer vs. Kramer.
If anything, Colman and Cumberbatch aren’t stretched; with their talent, they could have sleepwalked through half the scenes and you’d barely notice. That’s less a knock on them than on the material, which skates by on charm and plenty of jokes rather than depth. But as a night out, it worked
The audience was warmed up and happy to lean into the jokes, which landed often enough to keep spirits high. The film itself is good fun: glossy, sharp in places, and for a portrait of a toxic marriage, oddly sweet-natured—more Cosmo Kramer than Kramer vs. Kramer.
If anything, Colman and Cumberbatch aren’t stretched; with their talent, they could have sleepwalked through half the scenes and you’d barely notice. That’s less a knock on them than on the material, which skates by on charm and plenty of jokes rather than depth. But as a night out, it worked
Mini Review: Sometimes the best part of a film is who you watch it with. The Roses played to a full house after Colman and Cumberbatch dashed in late for a breezy intro, priming the crowd. The film’s glossy and funny—more Cosmo Kramer than Kramer vs. Kramer—though its stars aren’t stretched, coasting on charm over depth. Still, with laughs landing and the audience leaning in, it made for a great night out.