Haha, abuse to men is funnyAfter discovering her boyfriend Mark (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is married, Carly (Cameron Diaz) soon meets the wife he's been cheating on (Leslie Mann). And when yet another affair (with Kate Upton) is discovered, all three women team up to plot mutual revenge on the three-timing SOB.
Nick Cassavetes, director of The Notebook, tries to use his latest film to portray his female characters as empowering figures for this generation. How does he achieve this? By humiliating and debasing one male figure in 109 minutes. Go figure.
Little attempt is made to turn Cameron Diaz's cold character into somebody likeable, and what attempts there are feel rote, but please spare a thought for Kate Upton, who is served as little more than a plot device to parade her body around in slow motion. Leslie Mann shows potential for more dramatic roles, as she does well in the dramatic scenes where her character deals with the fact that the man she married is a cheat. It's just a shame she has to take steps backwards and fall on grating attempts at improv, and her sobbing in a wedding dress.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays the conniving, smug cheat the best he can, but often comes off as too cartoonish to take seriously. Much has been publicized that Nicki Minaj is starring in this film, but she's relegated to the token character who pops up to dump exposition and spout off "comedic" lines. Not that it's a big loss, since the scenes Minaj does appear in proves she should give up the dream, providing the best recent example that just because you're a successful musician, it doesn't mean you can act.
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| Carly wondered how close Mark was with his sister. |
How is it that a film that's placed in the comedy genre cannot produce something worth genuinely laughing at once? Screenwriter Melissa Stack falls back on cheap laughs, mainly involving an oversized dog defecating or his balls slapping Cameron Diaz's face. Does anything more need to be said?
The worst thing about this film is how it tries to pass itself off as a cinematic example of female empowerment. Let's disregard that it fails the Bechdel Test, as Nick Cassavetes believes viewers will lose interest unless the ladies constantly talk about their relationships or unless Kate Upton shows off her bum, and focus on what it believes female empowerment to be. The fact that the ladies deal with the man who cheated on them all through means involving laxatives and Estrogen tablets feels more petty and childish than empowering. What's also terrible is the glaringly obvious double standard that's evident from the trailer alone. If the genders were reversed, people would be up in arms over a film which dealt with a female character being abused in such ways, but it's considered funny to do the same thing to men? Take a step backwards, equal rights.
The Other Woman tries to pass itself off as a female empowerment film, but cannot be any more than petty, childish and misogynistic. Here's a game to play: If you're going to the cinema and thinking of watching this film, don't do it. Pick any other film there, they're worth your time and money a hell of a lot more than this trash.
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