Starring: Leslie Mann, Cameron Diaz, Kate Upton
Directed by: Nick Cassavetes (“The Notebook”)
Written by: Melissa Stack (debut)
For anyone in a committed relationship, the worst possible scenario has to be finding out that your spouse has been cheating on you. But what if you found out that your spouse was cheating on you with not one, but two women? Your first instinct would naturally be to befriend your wife’s mistress, right? No?
This is the situation in which we find Kate (Leslie Mann) in in “The Other Woman.†When a lawyer named Carly (Cameron Diaz) shows up to surprise her boyfriend Mark (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, TV’s “Game of Thronesâ€) at his house, the door is answered by Kate, much to both of their surprise. As Kate digs deeper, she discovers her husband is cheating on her with Carly and the two form an unlikely friendship. When they follow him to a vacation to try and see what he is into, they find yet another woman he is seeing (Kate Upton). After being informed of the situation, the three team up to try and take him down and get their revenge.
Those who have seen Judd Apatow’s films know that a little bit of Leslie Mann goes a long way. While she can be incredibly funny, she also has the tendency to play the same character over and over again and a tendency to overdo her performances. You cannot fault her effort here as she is virtually unhinged and commits completely to the role. Her loud, rambling and hysteric characteristics, however, are more obnoxious than entertaining. Of particular surprise is just how bland of a performance and character Diaz portrays. Sure, a lot of it has to do with the lame script, but Diaz displays very little in the way of personality in her role.
Once the trio of jilted lovers bands together, the film becomes a retelling of tired, typical, sabotage tropes and juvenile potty humor. I mean honestly, how many times must we watch someone’s drink get messed with only to find them gripping the side of a toilet seat, sweating and grunting complete with sound effects. (Sorry for the spoiler). The story never really moves far beyond seeing how much damage the women can inflict on the three-timing husband, despite the films unsuccessful attempts at building a number of relationships.
The obvious goal of “The Other Woman†is to serve as a women’s empowerment film to anyone who has ever been played by a man, which is perfectly fine. Unfortunately, the gags are stale and the script is vapid, among many other problems. When it comes down to it, “The Other Woman†is an entirely unfunny affair.