Movie Review: The Other Woman

All right, this is my first time doing a movie review and also a little prognosis of  my thoughts in relation in this movie, so disclaimers are in order :-
(i) Should what I mentioned herein bear any resemblences to your real life situations, it is strictly coincidental
(ii) Do not take offense at feedback from an amateur movie commentator's point of view, pardon begged.

The Other Woman

Photosource: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1880541696/tt2203939?ref_=tt_ov_i#

Starring Cameron Diaz as Carly Whitten (a successful lawyer), Leslie Mann as Kate King (housewife), Kate Upton as Amber (well-endowed third party, occupation unknown), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Mark King (self-employed) and Taylor Kinney as Phil (Kate's brother, a contractor) - this pretty much sums up the important characters in this light-hearted flick.

The plot on IMDB is simple - Carly discovered her boyfriend Mark was married when she met the wife. The two women discovered another affair and somehow befriended the mistress. The three of them team up to plot mutual revenge on the three-timing SOB.

Photosource: http://adventurerswanted.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=52541

My Summary and Thoughts 

The movie happened exactly as the plot described above.  It focused very well on the pain of the women upon discovering that the same man they were all seeing was a two, three timer. The self-loathing of the mistresses who thought they were stupid and hated the fact they had nearly wrecked homes - were played up. The denial that the wife faced, suddenly feeling like the world (and man) she knew was crashing in on her, all lost and heartbroken in a whim - another aspect of the pain the movie portrayed well. Even the way she prattled and tried to keep herself occupied, and had to turn to her mistress for solace and a shoulder to cry on because she had no friends of her own.

While certain aspects of this movie were funny, it was a rather touching flick and one's heart goes out to the women being cheated on and living in a world of nothing but lies concocted by one man.

Well, as movies go, things that happen within are often more dramatic in nature and far-fetched  There were a couple of points that did not add up at all. 

Photosource: http://article.wn.com/view/2014/04/22/WATCH_
Kate_Upton_Called_A_Whore_Booed_Off_The_Red_Carpet_At_/

Firstly, Cameron Diaz, while being a good actress and able to convey the necessary emotions for different scenarios herein, almost as good as she has been in The Counselor (where she played a wealthy and cold-blooded woman with underground ties and set out to destroy greedy men) - looked a little old to be chosen as a mistress. She looked even more haggard and mature than Mark's wife, Kate. My first thought was that someone younger could have been selected to be cast in this role, or a reversal of roles between Cameron and Leslie would be more fitting.

Secondly, the three women actually became very good friends - as far as love affairs went, things usually turn out very hideous between women sharing one single man. But then again, I am guessing the gist of the movie could be to focus on the vengeance and not the bond between the women. That said, I do know of a few ladies in reality who somehow manage to befriend their ex-boyfriends' wives or ex-wives. Hence, if we look at that angle, it may not be that far-fetched a theory after all.

Finally, another point that I found somewhat off was Carly's dad dating 22-year old Amber. But being extremely worldly and open-minded, I had to remind myself that anything was possible, and this film came from the States. In today's context, aren't we also seeing a lot of young ladies dating (supposedly rich) pudgy old men in Singapore too?

Photosource: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2014/04/24/306437557/the-other-woman-when-terrible-movies-happen-to-funny-actresses

Commendations

Having noted the tiny discrepancies, I still must go on to commend that this show plays out the emotions and stages of pain rather well, depicting a rather realistic light. Especially that of the dilemma of the wife - constantly oscillating between wanting to forgive her man and torturing him.

I also liked how they used the character of a successful lawyer as one of those who has been duped. It would have been rather unoriginal if all of Mark's mistresses had been dumb blondes or bimbos who wouldn't have suspected anything at all. Using someone successful and having brains on top of beauty addresses the grievance that not all women who are smart won't fall for men out to cheat them - it happens to everyone. Internet scams, lies, careful concoctions etc. 

Also, I believe that she was the key ingredient to the successful revenge plot they exacted eventually. She had the resources and know-how, making it possible to bring about downfall to someone who deserved his dues. If the plot used all housewives and young bimbos, the kind of revenge they probably came up with would be to, I quote Amber in this movie, "Kick him in the balls". 

Lastly, the strength of this flick also draws out the fact that everyone has tolerance levels. The wife, Kate, might probably have forgiven him and disregarded Carly's advice, but it was Mark's own actions of hurting her repeatedly that sent her over the edge. Women are more soft-hearted and give chances, probably believing certain explanations and sweet talks more readily, but Mark's own shady actions and careless attitude drove her to see what a rotten man he really was, and hence deserved to get a taste of his own medicine. To quote her, "Why should I be the one suffering when I didn't do anything wrong?"

The ending was a cheer for females, of course, bringing about the downfall of a pathological liar with his endless strings of affairs. I thought the victorious ending was awesome, and reminded me of other fabulous shows about women finally standing up for themselves to defeat men who inflict pain or harm - such as Sleeping with the Enemy (starring Julia Roberts) and Enough (starring Jennifer Lopez).

Finally, we get to see luscious scenes of gorgeous Bahamas, so yes, these are perks for sure!

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