The first half of "The Other Woman" is an awkward see-saw of good and bad comedy. Never does the film gain ground and you get that big lump of a feeling that this is quickly turning to a disaster if things don't get better fast. Luckily, against all odds, everything turns out better come the second half. Whatever mistakes were made are completely gone. And it makes you wonder why the discrepancy in quality and tone? "The Other Woman" may not change or shake the genre but who expects it to be honestly? What we get is a recommendable effort that turns out a-okay in the end.
Carly Whitten (Cameron Diaz) is a tough-as-nails New York lawyer with a strict set of rules when it comes to men and relationships. When she meets Mark King (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), she lets her guard down and begins to fall for him. A spontaneous, surprise visit to King’s Connecticut home goes awry when Carly discovers that Mark has a wife, Kate (Leslie Mann). A devoted super-housewife, Kate is shocked that Mark has been cheating on her while Carly is furious to learn that Mark is actually a married man. But instead of directing their outrage towards one another, Carly and Kate slowly begin to bond over their joint enemy, and, with help from Amber (Kate Upton), a third woman caught up in Mark’s lies, they conspire to give him what he deserves. As their strategies become more ingenious, their bond grows stronger.
As stated, "The Other Woman" is a tale of two halves. The first, being blunt, was extremely rocky. The comedy was failing more than enough to be noticeable already and the situations our characters find themselves in seems to be not only too contrived but mostly unfunny. Surprisingly, Leslie Mann was having a hard time doing her skits and one-liners. Awkward is the main word we are gonna use here. The second half though is a completely different take on things. This is where "The Other Woman" shines and shows its potential. Everything suddenly works and yes, it turns to a laugh fest quickly. The magical chemistry between Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann shows up while Kate Upton's support role was enough to eke out some laughs too. As for the plot, it's predictable but we expected that honestly. Given the uneven first half, we wished it was shorter as the almost 2 hour running time slightly felt long for a comedy film. Overall, "The Other Woman" may find better raves from a particular subset of the population. It is indeed a no nonsense chick flick at heart and luckyily it became funny enough to be a good watch.
Rating: 3 and a half reels
Why you should watch it:
- the second half was a complete turnaround and extremely fun
- this is a no nonsense chick flick at heart so girls rejoice!
Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the first half was a mess
The first half of "The Other Woman" is an awkward see-saw of good and bad comedy. Never does the film gain ground and you get that big lump of a feeling that this is quickly turning to a disaster if things don't get better fast. Luckily, against all odds, everything turns out better come the second half. Whatever mistakes were made are completely gone. And it makes you wonder why the discrepancy in quality and tone? "The Other Woman" may not change or shake the genre but who expects it to be honestly? What we get is a recommendable effort that turns out a-okay in the end.
Carly Whitten (Cameron Diaz) is a tough-as-nails New York lawyer with a strict set of rules when it comes to men and relationships. When she meets Mark King (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), she lets her guard down and begins to fall for him. A spontaneous, surprise visit to King’s Connecticut home goes awry when Carly discovers that Mark has a wife, Kate (Leslie Mann). A devoted super-housewife, Kate is shocked that Mark has been cheating on her while Carly is furious to learn that Mark is actually a married man. But instead of directing their outrage towards one another, Carly and Kate slowly begin to bond over their joint enemy, and, with help from Amber (Kate Upton), a third woman caught up in Mark’s lies, they conspire to give him what he deserves. As their strategies become more ingenious, their bond grows stronger.
As stated, "The Other Woman" is a tale of two halves. The first, being blunt, was extremely rocky. The comedy was failing more than enough to be noticeable already and the situations our characters find themselves in seems to be not only too contrived but mostly unfunny. Surprisingly, Leslie Mann was having a hard time doing her skits and one-liners. Awkward is the main word we are gonna use here. The second half though is a completely different take on things. This is where "The Other Woman" shines and shows its potential. Everything suddenly works and yes, it turns to a laugh fest quickly. The magical chemistry between Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann shows up while Kate Upton's support role was enough to eke out some laughs too. As for the plot, it's predictable but we expected that honestly. Given the uneven first half, we wished it was shorter as the almost 2 hour running time slightly felt long for a comedy film. Overall, "The Other Woman" may find better raves from a particular subset of the population. It is indeed a no nonsense chick flick at heart and luckyily it became funny enough to be a good watch.
Rating: 3 and a half reels
Why you should watch it:
- the second half was a complete turnaround and extremely fun
- this is a no nonsense chick flick at heart so girls rejoice!
Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the first half was a mess
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