The Other Woman
1.5/4
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kate Upton, Niki Minaj, Taylor Kinney, Don Johnson
Rated PG-13 for Mature Thematic Material, Sexual References and Lanaguage
At the heart of "The Other Woman" is a good idea: three women discover they're sleeping with the same man, and then band together to get revenge. Unfortunately as countless movies have proved, a good premise does not necessarily mean a good movie.
Carly (Diaz) is a successful lawyer with a history of bad relationships with men. But as she tells her sassy secretary Lydia (Minaj), she thinks that this latest one is a keeper. His name is Mark (Coster-Waldau). He's smart, sexy and totally into her. But when he has to postpone a dinner date with her father because of a plumbing accident, she's had it. Then her father (Johnson) tells her to give him the benefit of the doubt, and go to his house to help him out (and get in some extra credit, if you get my drift). She does so, only to find out that not only is he cheating on her, he's married. His wife Kate (Mann) puts two and two together, and they rely on each other for moral support (much to Carly's reluctance). They eventually realize that Mark has a third mistress, a sexpot with some big bazooms named Amber (Upton). The three of them form a girl trio and decide to make Mark pay.
With a smart script and good performances, this could have been a winning comedy. Unfortunately, "smart" is a term that no one will use to describe this drek and there isn't a good performance to be found during the way too long hour and fifty minutes it takes to tell the story. Admittedly, I did laugh a few times during this film, but it's the majority of the material that sucks.
The biggest surprise of the film is Cameron Diaz. Known mainly for her beauty, Diaz has tremendous talent, playing anything from a golden girl that draws all kinds of weirdos to her ("There's Something About Mary") to a pretty pickpocket ("Gangs of New York"). This is not one of her finest moments; she's coasting through on her charisma, which can lend itself admirably to bitchy characters (see "Bad Teacher" for an example) if the situation calls for it. Diaz doesn't read scripts, which may account for her participation in this insipid production. At least she's better than her co-star, Leslie Mann, who is just flat out irritating. Mann does not have a lot of range. In fact, she's only tolerable in small doses, like in her roles in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" or "Knocked Up" (both of which were directed by her husband Judd Apatow). Diaz, even though she's obviously bored out of her skull, carries her scenes. Mann isn't able to do that, which hurts the film considerably because she's required to carry half the movie. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is certainly sexy and worthy of our hatred, but I got the sense that the script limits what he can do. I can't say much about Kate Upton's thespian abilities since she doesn't show up until the film's final third and doesn't have much to do. Pop star Niki Minaj clearly has little in the way of acting talent (although her lame comic relief isn't all her fault...she doesn't have any good lines), while Don Johnson is completely forgettable.
"The Other Woman" is a chick flick that is meant to be counter-programming to all the action and special effects. It would work if the film was good. But it's not funny and it's not interesting. It's way too long, and the characters are irritating. For the most part, they're either sniping at each other or acting like sorority girls.
At least it's not godawful, which considering what has been passing for comedy lately, is saying at least something.
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kate Upton, Niki Minaj, Taylor Kinney, Don Johnson
Rated PG-13 for Mature Thematic Material, Sexual References and Lanaguage
At the heart of "The Other Woman" is a good idea: three women discover they're sleeping with the same man, and then band together to get revenge. Unfortunately as countless movies have proved, a good premise does not necessarily mean a good movie.
Carly (Diaz) is a successful lawyer with a history of bad relationships with men. But as she tells her sassy secretary Lydia (Minaj), she thinks that this latest one is a keeper. His name is Mark (Coster-Waldau). He's smart, sexy and totally into her. But when he has to postpone a dinner date with her father because of a plumbing accident, she's had it. Then her father (Johnson) tells her to give him the benefit of the doubt, and go to his house to help him out (and get in some extra credit, if you get my drift). She does so, only to find out that not only is he cheating on her, he's married. His wife Kate (Mann) puts two and two together, and they rely on each other for moral support (much to Carly's reluctance). They eventually realize that Mark has a third mistress, a sexpot with some big bazooms named Amber (Upton). The three of them form a girl trio and decide to make Mark pay.
With a smart script and good performances, this could have been a winning comedy. Unfortunately, "smart" is a term that no one will use to describe this drek and there isn't a good performance to be found during the way too long hour and fifty minutes it takes to tell the story. Admittedly, I did laugh a few times during this film, but it's the majority of the material that sucks.
The biggest surprise of the film is Cameron Diaz. Known mainly for her beauty, Diaz has tremendous talent, playing anything from a golden girl that draws all kinds of weirdos to her ("There's Something About Mary") to a pretty pickpocket ("Gangs of New York"). This is not one of her finest moments; she's coasting through on her charisma, which can lend itself admirably to bitchy characters (see "Bad Teacher" for an example) if the situation calls for it. Diaz doesn't read scripts, which may account for her participation in this insipid production. At least she's better than her co-star, Leslie Mann, who is just flat out irritating. Mann does not have a lot of range. In fact, she's only tolerable in small doses, like in her roles in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" or "Knocked Up" (both of which were directed by her husband Judd Apatow). Diaz, even though she's obviously bored out of her skull, carries her scenes. Mann isn't able to do that, which hurts the film considerably because she's required to carry half the movie. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is certainly sexy and worthy of our hatred, but I got the sense that the script limits what he can do. I can't say much about Kate Upton's thespian abilities since she doesn't show up until the film's final third and doesn't have much to do. Pop star Niki Minaj clearly has little in the way of acting talent (although her lame comic relief isn't all her fault...she doesn't have any good lines), while Don Johnson is completely forgettable.
"The Other Woman" is a chick flick that is meant to be counter-programming to all the action and special effects. It would work if the film was good. But it's not funny and it's not interesting. It's way too long, and the characters are irritating. For the most part, they're either sniping at each other or acting like sorority girls.
At least it's not godawful, which considering what has been passing for comedy lately, is saying at least something.
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