The Roses

 

As August draws to a close so does the 2025 summer movie season. As I wait for the break in this relentless heat, I once again sought refuge in the cool confines of my local movie theater to check out this weeks’ latest release, The Roses. While being inspired by the 1981 novel by Warren Adler, The Roses is neither a direct remake or reboot of the 1989's The War of the Roses dark comedy classic starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. This time around we have Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch facing off as Ivy and Theo Rose.

The Roses while still a dark comedy is also tonally a different in its focus and approach. Over its hour forty-five-minute runtime this love story turned cautionary tale takes you from the initial “meet cute” through to the explosive end of a relationship highlighting how competition and unspoken resentments slowly erode the facade of a picture-perfect couple to no one's surprise but their own.  It’s a raw, powerful, heartfelt/heart breaking, whip smart, charming, delightful ride. 

Colman and Cumberbatch are perfectly cast/matched with undeniable chemistry and energy. These two British powerhouses deliver magical performances that I could and wanted to watch all day. The repressed sensibility of British humor combines well with the “American” humor highlighted through Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg. The only disappointment for me on the American front is Allison Janney not getting a bigger part to play. Janney kills with what she's given, but I wanted so much more. 

Beautiful cinematography, great direction, good pacing, stellar dialogue, mature comedy that can be a bit raunchy at times (be warned if you have an issue with that), good soundtrack that will definitely get Happy Together stuck in your head for a few hours. I also want to give a shout out to the costume department for the creations they came up with for Colman’s character. They really helped tell her story.

The Roses retains an element of the absurd but feels more grounded and relatable than The War of the Roses. The character development, motivations, and lives are richer and actually made me like this film even more.  It’s definitely worth seeing in the theaters if you have a chance. I sound this one highly enjoyable.

The Roses gets a 10 from me.

#TheRoses

Nobody 2

 

I once again braved the outside world and ventured out of the house to check out a new film release. This week I opted to see Nobody 2. I failed to see the original Nobody when it came out in 2021 for reasons I can’t recall now. Only seeing it about a year to a year and a half ago but loved it enough to want to see the sequel on the big screen this time around. 

I’m glad I made the trip.

Nobody 2 picks up four years after events in the original as Hutch Mansell is still dealing with the fallout from his actions. And he’s tired. Really tired and just wants to take a vacation and make memories with his family. Unfortunately for him (and the entire Mansell clan) but lucky for us viewers, that simple, relatable attempt goes horribly wrong. Think John Wick on summer vacation.

If you enjoyed the original film, you’re in for a treat. Nobody 2 doesn’t aim to reinvent the wheel. In fact, it leans into the original formula. Hard. And it works beautifully. It’s one of those rare sequels that unabashedly takes from the original, expands upon it in a manner that’s both ‘more of the same” yet entertainingly “fresh”.   

Much to my delight all the key characters from the original film return. The added bonus of John Ortiz, Colin Hanks, and an unrecognizable Sharon Stone add to the chaos, mayhem, and body count in spades. 

Solid direction. Great soundtrack. Awesome well-choreographed action-packed fight sequences. 

With a run time of only an hour twenty-nine-minute Nobody 2 packs in all the over-the-top desperation, violence, action, and humor possible against the heartfelt backdrop of family into such a tiny package perfectly. 

Nobody 2 simply put it just plain fun and entertaining from beginning to end. A summer popcorn flick that’s simple, but not basic. Pure mindless, brutal escapism at its best. A sequel that’s as good as if not better than the original. They did this one right.

Nobody 2 gets a 10 from me.

#nobody2

The Naked Gun (2025)

 

A new month and another trip to my local movie theater to check out one of this week’s newest release, The Naked Gun (2025).  Based on the beloved 1982 television series Police Squad that spawned the trilogy of late 80s early 90s films starring Leslie Nielsen as Lt. Frank Drebin, The Naked Gun (2025) looks to bring this brand of ridiculous over the top comedy to a newer generation. Having grown up watch the series and the films with my dad, I’d been stoked to see what kind of spin writer/director Akiva Schaffer, writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, and producer Seth MacFarlane would put on the franchise.

Without a doubt the best part of The Naked Gun (2025) is casting Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin, Jr. He leans into the role and is the perfect actor to inherit/inhabit the legacy established by Nielsen. The surrounding cast of Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, and CCH Pounder also came to gamely play. I wish that Kevin Durand was better utilized, but what we were given works so I’m not too upset about that.

As for the rest of the film, I hate to say I was left underwhelmed. 

All the pieces are there but they just don’t quite fit together and deliver the movie experience it should, or I hoped for. The script is fine, borrows from Kingsman Secret Service. Good music. Solid direction. Fun cameos, and the expected gags in a Naked Gun film.

The real problems, however, start with the pacing. With a running time of an hour twenty-five minutes The Naked Gun (2025) feels much longer. And that’s due to the largest problem I had with the film. 

The humor. 

I have a pretty great and broad sense of humor but in this comedy only about fifty to sixty percent of the jokes land. And of those there’s only a handful of laugh-out-loud moments sprinkled among the slightly amused to appreciative chuckle moments. When the humor lands, it slaps hard, but it’s not nearly enough to overcome the prevailing flatness this comedy delivers. 

A real let down for sure. I wanted a consistent comedy at the least and a laugh riot at best. Instead, I got a glimpse of what could’ve been.  There are little sparks of greatness but no real fire. A shiny example of “close, but no cigar.” 

It pains me to say for me The Naked Gun (2025) is a big swing that unfortunately misses.

The Naked Gun (2025) gets a paltry 5.5 from me.

#theNakedGun