The talents of Australian writer Tony McNamara were evident back in 2003 when he made his feature film debut with The Rage in Placid Lake, one of my top 10 movies of that year.  It’s taken time but only in the last decade has his career picked up serious momentum.  McNamara earned two screenwriting Oscar nominations in the past 7 years (only 5 others can say the same) for The Favourite and Poor Things, both directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.  He also created the 30-episode streaming series The Great which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nod and two awards from the Writers Guild of America.

McNamara returns to the big screen with perhaps his most challenging assignment yet.  The War of the Roses, authored by Warren Adler and first published in 1981, has already been adapted into a successful movie.  The 1989 cinema release was directed by Danny DeVito and starred the memorable Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.  It turned a handy profit at the box-office and earned three Golden Globe nominations including best musical/comedy (losing to Driving Miss Daisy).  What could McNamara extract from the source material to improve on the well-liked original?

I’ll applaud him for going with a fresh, modern take.  The differences are so numerous that, aside from the “Roses” reference in the film’s title, you can barely recognise this as a remake.  Even the character names have been changed.  Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game) and Olivia Colman (The Favourite), who deserve praise for their outlandish performances, step into the shoes of the protagonists, Theo and Ivy.

The pair start out as a happily married couple living in Northern California but over the course of several years, their relationship deteriorates.  A simple, no-fault divorce would be the obvious solution but they’re intent on dragging out the misery as long as possible.  It reaches a point where things are so bad, they’re gleefully sabotaging each other’s lives in the most embarrassing and most financially expensive way possible… and they’re doing it with a smile on their faces!

Intended to be a dark comedy, The Roses is weak in places.  The supporting cast, which include Saturday Night Live alum Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Kate McKinnon (Barbie), aren’t given much to do.  They drift in-and-out of the story and peddle the same material in each scene.  This is highlighted by the affection McKinnon shares for Cumberbatch’s character.

Further, while I appreciate the film’s final punchline, the closing half-hour lost me with its over-the-top antics.  It’s too much of a screwball comedy.  Guns?  Really?  I much prefer the opening two acts which contain witty barbs and a humorous exploration of household power struggles.  While it shouldn’t be binary question, the movie has fun with their arguments over who should be the primary breadwinner and who should be raising the kids at home.

See it for the charm of Cumberbatch and Colman but The Roses is a modest letdown.