HOLLYWOOD-A common mistake for many movie enthusiasts is to suspect that a movie with a female driven cast is a chick flick. While the female sex may dominate the picture, there is quite a bit to learn from observing the actions of the opposite sex. “The Other Woman” directed by Nick Cassavetes, who is notorious for making one of the most romantic, heart-shattering films of all time, “The Notebook.”
This film however, has a bit more comedy to it compared to the romance factor as Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton join forces to take down a womanizer who has played all of them. Carly (Diaz) has found the man of her dreams in Mark (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), but little does she know he’s married to Kate (Mann) who is not happy to discover her hubby has been stepping out on her. In real life, the two women would be at each other’s throats, but this movie puts a twist on seeking vengeance by women who have been scorned.
Diaz and Mann have perfect chemistry with one another that shines on the screen. When the women discover that Mark has been cheating on the both of them with a third woman, Amber (Upton), it becomes an all out war. Upton is the sexiest of the trio, which leaves the other woman a bit jealous to say the least.
However, they soon realize that chatting Amber up on their scheme works to their advantage. They ladies resort to a slew of tactics to destroy his manhood. Some of it is a bit funny, not as hilarious as one may think.
The camaraderie between the ladies soon begins to decipher as each find themselves moving on with their lives; Carly falls for Kate’s brother Phil (Taylor Kinney), while Amber moves on to another beau and Kate finds herself falling for her cheating husband again. The movie doesn’t score points in the originality department as it follows most plots seen in just about every romantic comedy with the happily ever after ending. Kate wins, Amber wins, Carly wins, but Mark loses, in epic fashion.
Watching “The Other Woman” one can sense where the narrative is headed from the get go, no real big surprises happen, besides the revelation of who Amber’s secret lover turns out to be. This is a fun movie, it has heart, but in the end its nothing to perform back flips about. It’s a tale of women being women and men behaving badly. It reinforces stereotypes between the sexes that so many of us have come to encounter day in and day out.
