Director: Nick Cassavetes
Stars: Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton, Nicky Minaj and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Carly (Diaz) is a successful lawyer who almost always dates at least more than one guy at once, that is until she meets Mark (Coster-Waldau), who she finds herself falling for. However, when she goes to surprise him at his house she discovers that he’s married, and instantly regrets ever meeting him. She hopes to forget the whole situation but finds it impossible because his wife, Kate (Mann), finds her and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. When they discover that he’s cheating on both of them with the youthful Amber (Upton), the three of them put into motion a plan that will see the ruin of the sleazy man.
The Other Woman is a pretty good comedy with a solid plot that means it’s not just an endless stream of mindless gags. The concept is quite fresh as it concerns women joining forces rather than fighting over a man. I liked the story and how it developed. It’s not very deep or surprising but it does what it set out to do and it hits all the required beats at the right time. The casting was pretty good all-around. Cameron Diaz held the film together and without her I don’t think it would have been nearly as good. She brought her usual sparkling charm to a role that could have been too callous in the hands of a lesser performer. I thought she made a good duo with Leslie Mann and I like how their relationship transitioned from rivals to friends.
Leslie Mann was pretty good in the role, showing the conflict of a woman who knows she’s married to a scumbag but is also frightened of what she could lose if she chooses to divorce him. At some times her character was shown to be too pathetic though, and at times this made it hard to sympathize with her, but Carly helped her to gain strength and the two of them worked in tandem to bring down Mark. Fans of Game of Thrones will of course be delighted to see Coster-Waldau, and he played the part superbly. He had the charm and the winning smile, but a hint of the underlying maliciousness was always present. He showed he has good chops for comedy and overall I thought the cast worked well together. But that brings me to Kate Upton, who I think was, again, a good performer, but I’m not sure her role was actually necessary. It felt like they needed a third woman to come in and pad out the running time, because the things she did in the film I think could have been adjusted if it was just Carly and Kate, and as a result Amber felt like a third wheel.
I enjoyed most of the humor but there was one bit in particular where they showed a dog pooping. I don’t know when it became a funny thing, but it doesn’t work for me (I think it’s just the fact that you can actually see it), but for the most part the laughs were constant and I left feeling entertained.
So if you want a nice, stress-free film to occupy a couple of hours of your time The Other Woman is a good pick. It has a decent story, some great chemistry between the actors and a lot of laughs.
