By Tabitha Redder/nw news editor
In an industry that has seen almost every rom-com plot imaginable, The Other Woman is a far cry from original, but surprisingly, it still manages a few chuckles instead of causing involuntary retching into theater popcorn bags.
Director Nick Cassavetes creates an unorthodox love triangle in the film (not to be confused with a 2009 film of the same name) when wife Kate (Leslie Mann) and her husband’s mistress, Carly (Cameron Diaz), develop a borderline creepy friendship that becomes even more weird when they scheme together with a third lover, Amber (Kate Upton), to achieve the ultimate girl-power revenge against their cheater.
The performances aren’t extraordinary, but the actors were well cast for their roles.
Mann manages to nail the part of the annoying, unintelligent housewife with plenty of obnoxious crying and pulls off another drunken vomit scene reminiscent of The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005). Maybe she’s found her calling.
Together, Diaz and Upton’s characters are at completely opposite ends of the personality spectrum, Diaz playing a confident, ambitious lawyer and Upton a young, dumb sugar baby (almost too convincingly) christened “Boobs.” The husband, Mark, played by actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau adequately portrays the average insecure, cheating jerk.
The most surprising cast member is hip-hop-artist-turned-actor Nicki Minaj who plays Lydia, Carly’s office assistant. Her performance isn’t awful, but her character feels forced and stereotypical at times.
Even with a few plot twists, the film is predictable and clichéd, failing to do anything more than regurgitating the already grotesque romantic-comedy genre. I found myself looking for Carrie Bradshaw’s massive mane once or twice and also furrowing my brow because it seemed like none of the characters actually work for a living. Who has that much free time?
Naughty humor combined with the disturbing musketeer trio compensates for the unoriginal storyline can keep viewers from nodding off. Oh, and Minaj’s waist — is that even legal?
Even if one has a strong aversion to chick flicks, The Other Woman isn’t too repulsive. If viewers are looking for a film with a strong girl-power theme and copious amounts of sexual references, this is it.
