‘They’re Trapped In Weaponized Banter’

Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Roses”

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Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman are at war in The Roses, a remake of the 1989 comedy classic The War of the Roses, starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.

The two stars portray Theo and Ivy, a British couple living in the U.S., whose loving marriage is put in jeopardy when Theo’s career as an architect and Ivy’s as a chef, both take an extreme turn. “I think the whole idea originally, was not two people tearing each other apart while getting divorced, it was much more like two people who love each other, trying to stay together,” screenwriter Tony McNamara told me over Zoom.

He added: “It’s just like writing about people who want to be in love and are in love, trying to make it work and how for everybody, their egos get in the way and their natural flaws and ambitions. So that was the idea, like, what are the contemporary things that pull couples apart. And everybody is told, ‘zBe ambitious, be successful.’ So we needed that sense from the outside world, but also how it attacks what’s inside. So that was sort of this tension between the two, I think for me it was always like seing a couple who love each other really try, but also it going horribly, comically wrong.”

At the beginning of the movie, Ivy and Theo’s relationship is ideal, loving and fun. But of course, we rapidly get a glimpse at their flaws, for example, when Theo tells Ivy that she can never admit when she’s wrong.

On those recurring criticisms, Benedict Cumberbatch said, “It sort of becomes a bit of a refrain. Part of their failures at times is taking responsibility for each of their action, and I think it’s a key concept in a couple to be fair to one another and honest to one another. The seeds are brilliantly sown at the beginning and they’re innocuous, but they vibrate stronger and stronger as the film goes on. The relationship becomes a little bit more fraught and frail.”

Even though Ivy and Theo’s marriage reaches what would be a point of no return for many couples, and even after they said the worst insults to each other, their one true language remains their humor -specifically their British humor, which is not always understood in the U.S.- I asked the British actor, whose brilliant career often led to work and live in the U.S., what was the most common cause of miscommunication he encountered in his life.

He said, “The fact that when I say ‘water’ people go ‘Excuse me, what?’ But if an American says ‘water’ I know exactly what they’re talking about.”

He added: “It’s the little ripples across the pond that become the bigger waves, it’s not just the linguistic. Also there’s a huge interchange, people have been saying, ‘English humor is sharp and witty, but also maybe a little bit more pointed and cruel.’ Yes and no, I think Americans are so in their emotions, they will literally say the worst things you can say to each other on their television shows or on Comedy Central, and then it’s either you come back as strong or equal, or you just take it. What the hell is that about? You know, that’s not what the Brits do, we’re a little bit more… As that line that I say, ‘Well, can’t we be more Brits about it, more civilized?’ and Olivia completely knocks it back into shape and say ‘I don’t think we have been looking at our history!’ And it’s true, we are very snarky at times and a lot of it is, there’s a cynicism in British humor, which isn’t as open. I think that’s the key difference, I think Americans are very open in all their complex and emotions, and Brits are a bit more ‘I’m gonna keep that bit back actually.’ That’s the kind of characteristic that is played out throughout the film. And it’s quite true of the cultural differences.’

For Cumberbatch, Ivy and Theo are “saying what they mean, but they are misinterpreted as being funny.”

McNamara added: “There’s a joy [in British humor], a joy in being witty, a joy in being clever and as the movie starts to break down, they realize they don’t really have another language, they can’t find a different way of speaking.”

For McNamara, the couple is “trapped in weaponized banter,” to which Cumberbatch added that they “could live happily ever after, but they would have to address that with a real humanity and a real counseling.”

Since a big part of the movie is about misinterpretation and miscommunication, in romantic relationships and friendships, I asked McNamara if he ever worried as a storyteller, that certain jokes wouldn’t land as well with the U.S or British audience, or if on the contrary, thinking about it would only harm the story.

He said, “I hope there is enough humor that’s relatable across the board and I think there are jokes that the Brits will think are funnier than the rest of the jokes, and jokes that Americans will think are funny. I think if there is that culture, people will get some of it, some won’t, like the Dickens’ joke, but that will be joke that a ton of Americans will get. I do think it is a movie that is so relatable, there’s something universal about it, and there are a lot of those jokes that are cultural references.”

He added: “And I don’t mind, I don’t really subscribe to the ‘Everyone should get everything.’ Why? Why should they? You don’t read a book and get everything, or your friends will read this book, and miss things and won’t think it’s funny.”

As the years go by, Ivy is happier and happier in her job, and her restaurant gets all the recognition it deserves. On the other hand, Theo, whose downfall as a great architect definitely put a toll on his self-confidence, decides to build a huge, fancy house for his family. However, while their old house felt more family-friendly, this new house builds an even bigger gap between them. In other words, the bigger the house, the bigger the space between Ivy and Theo. I asked Cumberbatch how this change of set impacted his portrayal of Theo and how it impacted his relationship to Ivy.

He said, “It’s an overreach that house, it’s brilliant but it puts too much pressure on the couple and it’s trying to fulfill all sorts of ideals, without sorting out the core essence of their relationship.”

He added: “They can live under the same roof and not see each other for a day. The long table, like ‘Can you pass the salt dear?’ That sort of British country house terror of awful acquaintances who have grown out of love, maybe their arranged marriages, lords and ladies and such. But it feels like that, that table, and it’s a very acute reading of it by you.”

Cumberbatch explained that “playing that set was dreamy, it worked on so many levels, it really felt like another character in the film.”

Ultimately, this house that was supposed to fix all of their problems, “becomes a home of all their grievances.”

The Roses is now out in U.S theaters.