RING OF FIRE

LONGTIME FRIENDS OLIVIA COLMAN AND BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH DETAIL THE TWISTS AND TURNS OF MAKING 'THE ROSES' AND THE LOVELY TIME THEY HAD BEING A BICKERING, MISBEHAVING MARRIED COUPLE

- EMILY ZEMLER

"YOU GET to run the whole crazy gamut," says Benedict Cumberbatch of sparring with Olivia Colman in their new comedy.

OLIVIA COLMAN is feeling a bit tired. It's been a long day of press for "The Roses," the irreverent and occasionally unhinged black comedy she filmed with Benedict Cumberbatch last year, and she can't sit up straight. Both she and Cumberbatch, speaking over Zoom from a hotel in London, are visibly slouched. She confirms almost immediately that she's wearing slippers instead of shoes. “We're supposed to be bright and alert pupils with intelligent and witty repartee,” Cumberbatch says, straightening up with feigned attention. “Well, we were hours ago,” Colman replies. “I'm afraid you've got the dregs now, so good luck.”

Despite her warning, Colman and Cumberbatch turn out to be warmly enthusiastic about “The Roses,” scripted by “The Favourite” screenwriter Tony McNamara and directed by comedy veteran Jay Roach (“Meet the Parents”). Now in theaters, it’s an adaptation of both Warren Adler’s 1981 novel “The War of the Roses” and Danny DeVito’s 1989 film of the same name, which pitted Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner against each other as a couple on the verge of divorce. The idea to revive the story came about several years before it was actually made.

“I'm going to let Olivia tell this story to see if she’s been paying attention all day,” Cumberbatch says. (Playful banter quickly becomes a recurring factor in our conversation.)

“Ben and I have been friends for a long time and have mutual friends,” Colman says, recounting how the film came together at the Venice Film Festival in 2018. “We thought, ‘Wouldn't it be lovely to work together?’ And then [former Searchlight Pictures president] David Greenbaum said, ‘We should get these guys to work together.’ ”

Cumberbatch nods enthusiastically, adding, “This isn’t her memory.”