I f there was one mantra to best sum up far too much of the state of modern movies, it would be this: The remakes will continue until morale improves. That or the world goes up in flames, whichever comes first.

Though it certainly won't be the last, the latest remake to fail to hold a candle to its predecessor — the tepid The Roses — is one of the most perplexing. A slight, sporadically amusing film that begins fine enough before the spark of its strong leading duo (Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch) gets smothered in a dull, overly broad one-note comedy of errors. It's more forced than it ever is incisive fun. Where Danny DeVito's 1989 film The War of the Roses united the darkly delightful pairing of Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas and was shot like a horror film to captur

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