The Other Woman

Leslie Mann is one of my favorite comic actresses, and I’ve been waiting for her to get that one project that would put her over the top as one of Hollywood’s premier go-to talents. I thought This Is 40 would do the trick but, as it turns out, I was probably the only guy in the world who thought that was a good movie. Now comes The Other Woman, a film that casts her as a wimpy victim of Mark, a cheating husband (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). She winds up befriending Carly, his mistress (Cameron Diaz), and she becomes a stronger, independent person as the film progresses. Whatever. Director Nick Cassavetes is trying to do a straight comedy here, and things work well enough for at least half of the movie. Mann is at her pathetic best when stalking Diaz, crying on her doorstep with Boston Market food in hand as a peace offering and a big Great Dane in tow. I admit to enjoying this movie a little in its early stages, thinking it might be the showcase Mann deserved. Then, The Other Woman crashes into a creative wall, sending its stars through the narrative windshield and the movie into stupidity oblivion. I’m not exactly sure of the precise moment where this one starts to go off the rails. Maybe it’s when yet another mistress, played by Kate Upton, enters the scene and the women start working together to torture and destroy the cheater. Now, mind you, I am all for a movie where a cheater gets his comeuppance. However, I’m not actually up for a movie where one of the revenge seekers is played by the beautiful but bland Upton. What starts as a relatively amusing comedy devolves into ugly, messy business that is not in the least bit entertaining.