The War of the Roses (1989)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A wealthy couple's marriage dissolves into a bitter and destructive battle over their material possessions.
The story
Oliver and Barbara Rose are a wealthy couple whose seemingly perfect marriage begins to crumble as they face a bitter divorce. As their children prepare to leave for college, the reality of their lives sets in: Barbara feels unfulfilled and resentful of Oliver's workaholism, while Oliver struggles to accept her desire for independence. When Barbara officially requests a divorce, the legal proceedings quickly devolve into a petty and escalating war over their home and belongings. The couple's mutual resentment fuels a series of escalating confrontations, turning their shared life into a battlefield of spite and material obsession.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Oliver and Barbara Rose, a wealthy couple in Washington, D.C., find their marriage collapsing as they enter a bitter divorce. The conflict centers on their home and possessions. After Barbara expresses her desire for independence, the legal battle becomes a series of escalating acts of retaliation. Oliver sabotages Barbara's business, and she retaliates by damaging his property. The conflict reaches a peak when they are both trapped in their home, eventually hanging from a chandelier in a final, desperate confrontation. The film ends with a lawyer offering the couple a choice between moving on or remembering why they fell in love, while the lawyer himself decides to reconcile with his own wife.
- First release year
- 1989
- Runtime (minutes)
- 116
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Danny DeVito
- Writers
- Michael J. Leeson · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Michael Douglas · Oliver Rose; Kathleen Turner · Barbara; Danny DeVito · Gavin d'Amato; G. D. Spradlin
- Genres
- satirical black comedy
- Themes
- divorce; materialism; revenge
- Tone and mood
- bitter; unrelenting; acid-dipped
- Premise and plot tags
- divorce; revenge
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1981 novel by Warren Adler
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics and was described as a bitter, unrelenting comedy and an acid-dipped epic of revenge.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 80 · scale: 100 · review count: 17; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The title is an allusion to the battles between the warring houses of York and Lancaster.; In Germany, the title 'Der Rosenkrieg' became synonymous with high-conflict divorce.; The film was preceded in theaters by 'Family Therapy', a The Simpsons short.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…