Hell Hath No Fury

The Other Woman

I am very confused on why people cheat on their significant others. It takes to much effort to make up lies and try to keep those lies straight. That effort could be better placed into telling the person you are with that it isn’t working and move on. Plus, if you are a man and happen to be with a strong willed woman, that woman could unleash bad things on you like the three women in 20^th Century Fox’s new comedy The Other Woman.

Carly (Cameron Diaz Bad Teacher) is a successful lawyer who has started a new relationship with Mark King (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau HBO’s Game of Thrones), a good looking business man. After 8 weeks of bliss, Carly asks Mark to meet her father (Don Johnson Miami Vice), however Mark declines upsetting Carly. Putting her anger aside, Carly decides to surprise Mark at his home. Instead of Mark, Carly comes face to face with Mark’s wife Kate (Leslie Mann This Is 40). Unknowing of Mark’s marriage, Carly decides to end things. But after an awkward confrontation with Kate, the two women form a weird friendship. The two women soon discover that Mark is not only having an affair on Kate, Mark is cheating on Carly with another woman named Amber (Kate Upton). After telling Amber of what Mark is really like, the three women decide to have some fun with Mark, all the while becoming close friends.

I must admit this was a better movie than I expected. The expectations were low because of the time it was theatrically released (February is not known for its stellar releases). Diaz gives a good performance as the hardnosed lawyer who softens after some time. Diaz also has some good lines that produced some good laughs. Coster-Waldau and Upton I believe were put in the film mainly for eye candy. Though there are some pretty good pranks unleashed on Coster-Waldau’s Mark during the film. The film, however, belonged to Leslie Mann. Playing mild mannered Kate, Mann has most of the best lines and her comedic acting is top notch. I understand that Tina Fey is considered one of the best female comedians, but I think that Leslie Mann is better. I believe that Mann’s delivery of her lines and the different pitches in her voice make her better.

I did like the choice of Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook) as director for this film. Cassavetes has shown his ability to get good emotion from his actors, like Diaz who Cassavetes has worked with on My Sister’s Keeper. Cassavetes brings the emotion to certain parts of the film as well and it is done wonderfully. The deeper human emotions is one thing I think is missing from most comedies and what I think made success’ out of films like Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

My one complaint is a small one. Carly and Kate follow Mark to the Hamptons for a weekend. The ladies stay with Kate’s brother who just happens to have a house on the beach. This to me was just a little too coincidental.  Other than that, this was a good comedy to curl up with your significant other and just enjoy. It’s what I did.

The Verdict: Worth Your Time