The Other Woman

There is, unfortunately, a widely-held belief that 'chick flicks' or romantic comedies are, by their very nature, rather inferior to other film genres. Time and time again I've heard people review a romantic comedy with words to the effect of “well, it was never going to be good, what did you expect from a chick flick?!” It's almost as if people automatically enter the cinema with astronomically low expectations and simply accept a film's faults because it is a rom-com. This is both unfair and illogical. Look at the fantastic films which can be classed as chick flicks: Mean Girls, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Bridesmaids all have something intelligent and funny to say. And then there are films like The Other Woman.

Whilst reading this, just imagine me sighing throughout and you'll get the idea of just how rubbish this film is. Indeed, I'd rather not waste precious energy on lifting my fingers to type a review of a film which is completely without merit, inventiveness or spark. The Other Woman follows three women who have all been seeing the same man (played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Leslie Mann plays his wife who lives in a big, lovely house and when Cameron Diaz's high-flying lawyer character turns up at their front door, the two realise that the man of their dreams is, in fact, a serial cheater. Then, would you believe it, they find out that he has been cheating on them both with Kate Upton. Mental. The trio then decide to team up and get their own back, with hilarious consequences. Or so the trailer would have you believe.

So, from the set-up, we can hope for a film about sisters doing it for themselves, a triumph of feminism, female empowerment and a witty subversion of gender roles. In reality, the resulting film is a vacuous re-hash of banal stereotypes with a limp script and none of the biting wit which could have worked so well in such a set-up. From a characterisation perspective, the three women are standard constructions of Hollywood femininity: there's the intelligent one, the busty one and the mad, cries-all-the-time kooky one (it's all about feng shui darling). Wow, that's so innovative. Indeed, there's a tendency nowadays in comedy to simply fall-back on actors shouting and gradually becoming more and more hysterical in a scene in order to create laughs. Whilst this may work for the first few occasions, a film which relies on such humour quickly becomes dull. Leslie Mann's character, in particular, suffered from this and her performance quickly grates on the audience. Cameron Diaz played, well, Cameron Diaz.

The fundamental issue with the film is this: if its main theme is one of female empowerment and women getting one over nasty, horrible men, then why are the characters themselves so hypocritical. The Other Woman would totally fail the Bechdel Test (Google it) as nearly every conversation in the film is about a man. The women initially bemoan the loss of their man, then realise they can get revenge with hair removal cream, growth hormones and laxatives, only to then to come to the conclusion that they can not live without a man for a few months. But never mind, these women are independent and head-strong, who can afford to fly off to Barbados at a moment's notice, stay in posh hotels, drive nice cars and waste time spying on their ex. Oh no, sorry, in the end they have to fill their vacuous lives with a rich man and a guy who owns a beautiful house on a beach front. I get that it's a film, but really?!

For a film with a good concept, The Other Woman simply fails to deliver anything new, witty or engaging. Annoying characters, contrived plot points and a lack of a decent script all amounts to a film with very questionable gender politics and tired jokes. Do yourself a favour girls, go and see When Harry Met Sally and see how it's really done. 

Clapperboard Rating: * *