Plot Summary: A couple struggles to keep their marriage afloat when unforeseen circumstances cause the power dynamics between them to change. Will the dissolution of one career and the success of the other end a formerly loving union? 

Runtime: 105 minutes

Director: Jay Roach

Writer: Screenplay by Tony McNamara and based on The War of the Roses by Warren Adler

• Benedict Cumberbatch as Theo Rose
• Olivia Colman as Ivy Rose
• Andy Samberg as Barry
• Kate McKinnon as Amy

Review by: Lauren

This isn’t your grandmother’s romantic comedy. Or maybe it is, if your grandmother liked sharp-tongued British satire, emotionally constipated characters, and marriage stories that swing between hilarious and horrifying. At its heart, the film is a delightfully offbeat comedy about the ups, downs, and catastrophic nose-dives of long-term commitment.

The casting is, quite frankly, inspired. Benedict Cumberbatch turns in a charming performance as the disgraced architect husband Theo, matched (or mismatched?) by Olivia Colman as Ivy, the chef with a career on the rise. Together, they have a kind of chaotic magnetism—think fireworks in a wind tunnel. It’s equal parts confusing and convincing. The film doesn’t try to sell us on a fairy tale. Instead, it insists—often hilariously—that marriage is less about perfection and more about tolerating the parts that drive you mad.

The dialogue snaps along at a dizzying pace. This movie assumes you can keep up—and honestly, thank goodness. There’s no hand-holding here, just mile-a-minute banter laced with British idiosyncrasies: excessive politeness, an allergy to emotional honesty, and a pointed contrast with American earnestness and… well, guns. The culture clash is played for laughs, but never mean-spirited. If anything, it adds a brisk transatlantic breeze to the film’s overall tone.

Tonally, the movie is walking a tightrope—there’s a clear anti-divorce message, but it’s one that lands with varying degrees of success. Depending on your tolerance for romantic optimism, you’ll either find the film’s central couple heartbreakingly destined for one another or in dire need of a long solo vacation and some therapy. For me, the tiny glimmers of hope in their story—the way they just get each other, even as everything falls apart—were enough to keep me emotionally invested.

Special mention goes to the score: light, whimsical, and featuring a shocking amount of steel drum. Somehow, it works. The film has that rare quality of knowing exactly how to land its final act, with an ending that feels earned, satisfying, and just the right amount of messy.

In a time when most romantic comedies either aim too low or try too hard, this film delivers something that feels miraculously fresh. You’ll laugh. You’ll cringe. You’ll wonder if you’ve ever truly talked about your feelings. But most of all, you’ll leave with the odd sensation that maybe, just maybe, love is less about fairy tales… and more about figuring it out, one awkward conversation at a time.

Images Courtesy of IMDB