I've tried to stop being bemused by what some producer or filmmaker decides to remake – like contagious yawning or socks disappearing in the dryer there's some explanation somewhere, but we'll never know what it is.

The War of the Roses came along at a time when Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner weren't only hot properties but were inextricably linked to each other thanks to the Romancing the Stone franchise, and director/co-star Danny DeVito made a rare beast in a black comedy that conquered the box office, making back almost ten times its budget.

Telling the same essential story over 30 years later with two of the best British talents working today made almost no sense, but this film is proof enough that the best script and the best actors to deliver it can make anything worth doing (once again I'm reminded of how great Joker and Logan were even after superhero movies had long since failed to impress).

Benedict Cumberbatch is Theo, a successful architect who can't stand the corporatese in a work meeting and escapes into the kitchen of the nearby restaurant where he meets Ivy (Olivia Colman, playing a contemporary female romantic comedy lead for what feels like the first time ever).

The two banter over an obvious mutual attraction, immediately collapse into the coolroom to have sex, and in short order Theo has moved to California with her as she pursues her dreams of having her own restaurant.

A decade or so in, with a young family of two kids and having rediscovered his mojo in designing a seaside museum that's just about to open, everything looks great for the Rose family, especially when he surprises Ivy with a seaside shack he's bought where she can build her nascent food empire.

But it all comes crashing down (along with the building) when a freak storm hits the coast and suddenly Theo is fired and untouchable, forever the guy who made the building that fell over.

He's bereft and miserable, constantly watching memes online made out of the video taken of the disaster, but it presents an opportunity for Ivy to step up and try to make something of her restaurant to pay the bills. When an influential San Francisco food critic calls in and gives her a rave review, the place takes off.

As Theo is supportive but feels left behind, Ivy's career is suddenly unstoppable, and before they know it she's expanding, busier than ever and being feted by influencers and the food community.

Theo suggests they take a part of her booming business and design and build their dream house overlooking the water, and everything seems great. But not long after, the resentments that have hardly shown themselves so far start to bubble over, like the way Theo virtually took control of raising their kids and has transformed them into high achieving fitness fanatics against Ivy's wishes while she's been too busy to be around much.

By the time we reach the scene of a housewarming dinner with their friends at the high tech abode, the simmering has come to a boil, Theo and Ivy taking such obvious swipes at each other even their (American) guests are embarrassed and uncomfortable.

A romantic trip to New York City and marriage counselling (as we've already seen in the opening scene) all fail to rekindle the spark and tamp down the building hatred and jealousy, and the pair agree to divorce.

But figuring out who's getting what from the marriage leaves us at the stage of the original film (and the novel upon which it's based), the Roses resorting to lawyers, screaming matches and violence to try to best each other – Ivy ultimately stalking Theo through the house shooting at him with a handgun.

The premise is slightly unlikely and unrealistic, and the plot is somewhat free-wheeling and a bit unfocused, taking a long time to get where it's going, but none of that matters because watching Cumberbatch, Colman and even their American costars like Andy Samberg and Kate McKinnon (who'd normally be far more obtuse and broad in another version of this sort of thing) bounce off each other is more than reason enough to watch it.

I partly credit director Jay Roach as well though because he's always been smarter than the average comedy director in the US studio system, and there's a sensibility that's very British thanks to the leads (or the script by Poor Things scriptwriter Tony McNamara) that gives it another point of difference and gives the comedy a flavour quite its own.