The Other Woman fits perfectly into the genre of chick-flick girl-power films. It's filled with snarky characters, slapstick comedy moves and worn-in jokes that are given new life by the chemistry of the cast. The film's funny moments are easy to digest and difficult not to laugh at, which is why The Other Woman is so effortlessly hilarious.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays Mark King, a self-absorbed liar who is cheating on his wife while simultaneously framing her for fraud. His wife Kate (Leslie Mann) teams up with sexy bigshot lawyer Carly (Cameron Diaz) and absolute smokeshow Amber (Kate Upton) to get revenge on Mark, who's been sleeping with all three of them. Mark is forgettable, on purpose; he serves as a blank to be filled by the audience, an object of the women's rage and revenge and the motivation behind their unlikely friendship. They put estrogen pills in his smoothies, hair-removal cream in his shampoo, laxatives in his scotch; it isn't innovative, but these tried-and-true revenge tactics do serve up tons of laughs. A comedic highlight occurs when Carly and Kate are staking out Mark and they first catch a glimpse of him with Amber; try not to laugh as Kate and Carly angrily scramble after her in slow motion as a bikini-clad Amber sexily jogs along a shoreline.
The true extent of Mark's deception is revealed when Carly discovers his illegal offshore accounts, inked with Kate's signature, making her responsible if authorities shut down the accounts. This discovery brings the women to their final act of revenge; they lock him in a conference room and confront him about his deception. He desperately begs his wife for forgiveness, before going on an anger-fuelled rant about how the three women couldn't possibly scheme him for all of his illegal money. At the scene's climax, he accidentally breaks his own nose by smashing into a glass door, a moment that's more shocking and pathetic than funny.
Diaz is perfectly cast as Carly, and her contrast with Leslie Mann's performance as Kate is irresistible. Kate is frazzled and emotionally unstable, and she's constantly embarrassing Carly by having emotional breakdowns at Carly's high-profile Manhattan law office. Amber, played by Sports Illustrated supermodel Upton, is ditzy but sincere, delivering some cheeky one-liners and adorably stupid comments, making her a good complement to Diaz and Mann's performances. Nicki Minaj makes a surprising appearance as Lydia, Carly's secretary, and she is unfortunately under-utilized. It's a treat to see her onscreen, but it would have been even better to see her take a stab at some juicier lines.
Despite being a very recent addition to the genre of chick-flick, sleepover-staple films, The Other Woman already feels like a staple. Paired with a bottle of Moscato and a few friends looking for some simple laughs, The Other Woman can make for the perfect night in.
(Fox)Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays Mark King, a self-absorbed liar who is cheating on his wife while simultaneously framing her for fraud. His wife Kate (Leslie Mann) teams up with sexy bigshot lawyer Carly (Cameron Diaz) and absolute smokeshow Amber (Kate Upton) to get revenge on Mark, who's been sleeping with all three of them. Mark is forgettable, on purpose; he serves as a blank to be filled by the audience, an object of the women's rage and revenge and the motivation behind their unlikely friendship. They put estrogen pills in his smoothies, hair-removal cream in his shampoo, laxatives in his scotch; it isn't innovative, but these tried-and-true revenge tactics do serve up tons of laughs. A comedic highlight occurs when Carly and Kate are staking out Mark and they first catch a glimpse of him with Amber; try not to laugh as Kate and Carly angrily scramble after her in slow motion as a bikini-clad Amber sexily jogs along a shoreline.
The true extent of Mark's deception is revealed when Carly discovers his illegal offshore accounts, inked with Kate's signature, making her responsible if authorities shut down the accounts. This discovery brings the women to their final act of revenge; they lock him in a conference room and confront him about his deception. He desperately begs his wife for forgiveness, before going on an anger-fuelled rant about how the three women couldn't possibly scheme him for all of his illegal money. At the scene's climax, he accidentally breaks his own nose by smashing into a glass door, a moment that's more shocking and pathetic than funny.
Diaz is perfectly cast as Carly, and her contrast with Leslie Mann's performance as Kate is irresistible. Kate is frazzled and emotionally unstable, and she's constantly embarrassing Carly by having emotional breakdowns at Carly's high-profile Manhattan law office. Amber, played by Sports Illustrated supermodel Upton, is ditzy but sincere, delivering some cheeky one-liners and adorably stupid comments, making her a good complement to Diaz and Mann's performances. Nicki Minaj makes a surprising appearance as Lydia, Carly's secretary, and she is unfortunately under-utilized. It's a treat to see her onscreen, but it would have been even better to see her take a stab at some juicier lines.
Despite being a very recent addition to the genre of chick-flick, sleepover-staple films, The Other Woman already feels like a staple. Paired with a bottle of Moscato and a few friends looking for some simple laughs, The Other Woman can make for the perfect night in.
