I suppose there was a chance, albeit a small chance, that “The Other Woman” could be a funny and spirited revenge movie for women. The concept, while admittedly dopey and trite, could be entertaining if placed in smart and creative hands. Well let me say not one single smart or creative hand touched any part this film. “The Other Woman” is unquestionably one of the most brainless and insipid attempts at comedy I have seen in a while. Not only is it offensive to intelligent women everywhere, it’s also offensive to any halfway discerning movie fan.
I’m not certain what screenwriter Melissa Stack is going for, but she definitely didn’t hit her mark. The film isn’t remotely funny. There isn’t an ounce of originality in the attempted humor. The characters are obnoxious, shallow, and brain-dead. I didn’t like anyone in this movie nor did I care about their situations. Basically the film trashes every bit of its women’s empowerment and independence potential.
Cameron Diaz gives yet another silly performance playing a New York lawyer named Carly. She has fallen for suave and debonair guy named Mark (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Things look good for them until she finds out he is married to the teeth-grindingly annoying Kate (Leslie Mann). The two develop an unusual friendship which only strengthens when they find out that Mark is also cheating with a third woman, an air-headed supermodel named Amber (Kate Upton). The three scorned ladies join forces to enact the ultimate revenge on the two-timing (or is it three-timing) Mark?
Stark and director Nick Cassavetes give us an annoying and inept mess of a movie. It doesn’t have an original thought or an shred of ambition. It seems to be copying things we’ve seen in other films. It’s so poorly made from its idiotic fecal jokes to its pretentious use of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”. And the performances don’t help. Bad performances from Cameron Diaz have become commonplace and it’s no different here. Mann is probably the most annoying of the cast and that’s saying something. Upton, well she is no actress and she makes that crystal clear.
I read that “The Other Woman” pulled in $200 million at the box office. I can’t tell you how perplexing that is. We all sometimes like a silly, dumb movie as long as it doesn’t insult us and it offers some semblance of filmmaking intelligence. “The Other Woman” has none of that yet it raked in a ton of money. I would love to watch a good comedy featuring the empowerment of women at the expense of a slimy disgraceful guy. “The Other Woman” is certainly not it.
keithandthemovies.com 
I saw it on HBO and yeah, it was bad. Lesley Mann really overacted in that film. Kate Upton isn’t an actress but eye candy. Is it more is Cameron Diaz starting to age? What was the $@#ing point of Nicki Minaj and her fat#$$ in that film?
Wasn’t it a total mess? Everyone sucked. Oh yea, I thought about mentioning Minaj. She was just awful but I was getting annoyed writing the review that I just left her out.
How did this crap clear $200 million!?!?!?
I have no idea. I don’t know why people went to see Grown Ups 2? It makes me sad for the human race.
Arrrgh. Grown Ups 2. Another atrocity. I swear, is the discerning moviegoer becoming extinct?
Brainless and insipid, well that’s pretty much what I thought even from the trailer Keith. I actually gave the press screening to a friend of mine and I’m so glad I did!
Well played Ruth! I wish I could get my wasted two hours back! And just think, it made $200 million!!!!!! Gaaahhhh!!!!
“Basically the film trashes every bit of its women’s empowerment and independence potential.” Exactly! This is probably the worst film I’ve seen last year – I would like nothing more but to get those two hours of my life back! As for the $200 million that it made… I guess it had something to do with Cassavetes being the director (people probably expected the next The Notebook?). Still, it’s really sad that movies like The Other Woman make this kind of money…
I think you’re right. It was the worst movie I saw last year. It’s not funny. It’s not smart. It is embarrassingly bad yet it was a box office hit. I don’t get it.
The only explanation is timing. I looked back at my review when it opened, I knew going in it was going to suck. It was the only new film in theaters that week and I was gearing up for the weekly summer ritual. The one thing that was positive was I got to practice my snarkiness while writing about it. Apparently, neither of us is discerning enough to have stayed away completely.
I suppose we all need to practice our snarkiness. 😉
I’m so glad I didn’t spend money on it. Saw it during an HBO free view weekend and I was just as bad as I feared. Maybe it was a timing thing, but I actually remember hearing people I know saying it was “pretty good”. Can’t say I agree.
Ooooh sounds horrible
If you have a true enemy in life, buy them a copy of this movie. That’ll show ’em!
The movie did nothing for me, except make me realize that yes, I can despise Leslie Mann in a movie. Good review Keith.
Wasn’t Mann insanely annoying??? She drive me nuts!!!!
Is it just me or do Diaz’s performances range from meh to scratch-your-eyes-out awful? This looks like one I can miss and not lose a second of sleep.
Oh Diaz covers everything (except good acting). She was embarrassingly bad. To be fair I’ve never been a big fan of her acting to begin with, but this is so lame and amateurish. Granted she doesn’t have much to work with, but there’s no way her performance here could EVER rise above the material. It’s sooo bad.
Yikes! Sounds horrendous.
Don’t waste your time on it Abbi!!!
Although its misses its mark on female empowerment, The Other Woman had potential to become a fun comedy featuring witty performances. Unfortunately, apart from a few laughs, it’s just not that funny and is often rather boring.
That’s the real kicker, it had so much potential. I sort of knew what to expect when I was going in, but I really didn’t anticipate it being this bad. Your right, it’s not that funny which is probably its biggest sin.
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