Review of The Other Woman (2014) by Steve J — 14 Jan 2019

Three angry women take revenge on a cheating husband.

Cameron Diaz plays the straight man to Leslie Mann's betrayed wife who is supposed to be endearingly zany but comes across as raving mad. After five minutes you wonder, not why her husband cheated on her, but why he didn't get her committed. The final member of the triumvirate, Kate Upton, is supposed to have been taken advantage of because of her youthful innocence. But when she announces she is willing to sleep with the husband 'one more time' to facilitate the three pitiless harpies continuing with their exorbitant revenge she comes over as sexually promiscuous as well as amoral.

Aside from the 'limbering up' outside the house scene, the movie is totally unfunny. Since '#meto' episode, women who are drunk, or acting drunk are not funny, they are boorish and threatening, and administering the contents of ladies bathroom cabinet which includes laxatives and 'lady cream' to an unsuspecting male is not funny either, its just crass.

The romantic subplot involving the Cameron Diaz character and the wife's brother, Phil, played by Taylor Kinney, doesn't work because her central role, in sorting out the lives of the two hapless women feels 'male' which tips the balance of power against the Kinney character. Phil is relegated to a girly-boy who makes sure she has a coffee table on the deck he built with his own manly hands - only we're not fooled. Check out the 'woke' poster where the two wimmin - betrayed by the patriarchy - wrap themselves around her.

In sum it's worth watching if you want to know how well the feminist agenda and identity politics work in the romantic comedy genre.