Ruby | On 15, Oct 2014

Director: Nick Cassavetes
Cast: Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton, Don Johnson, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Nicki Minaj
Certificate: 12
Watch The Other Woman online in the UK: Disney+ / TalkTalk TV / Apple TV (iTunes) / Prime Video (Buy/Rent) / Rakuten TV / Google Play

The Other Woman is rather predictable and relies on heavily on physical humor, plus the usual romantic comedy tropes. Carly Whitten (Diaz) is a high-flying New York attorney, who is swept off her feet by new boyfriend Mark (Coster-Waldau), until he excuses himself when it is time to meet her father, Frank (Johnson). Upset with him, she gives Mark his marching orders, but soon realises that she really does like him. Later that night, dressed to impress, Carly arrives at Mark’s home, only to find he has a wife, Kate (Mann).

After Kate and Carly’s first awkward meeting, Kate pursues Carly’s friendship and they eventually form an unusual alliance, resulting in a plan of revenge on the cheater. When they follow him, though, they find a third woman, another of Mark’s girlfriends, and so recruit the lovely Amber (Upton), who is half their age.

It is hard to believe that three attractive women would waste their energies on this man, but they do bond over the experience, and Mark does suffer – occasionally, this might have been funnier if left more to the imagination, but at least, in almost Bridesmaids style, we get to witness the suffering first hand.

Diaz and Mann bring their characters to life with ease. Diaz gives Carly a harder edge at times, making her character quite refreshing, and Mann fully commits to embodying Kate, which does not always make for comfortable viewing. Nicki Minaj also appears as Carly’s sassy secretary, Lydia, although her sometimes sour tongue makes her unpleasant rather than playful; she is a cross between Megan Mulally’s Karen (Will and Grace) and Jennifer Hudson’s Louise (Sex and the City), but comes off without the warmth or the funny. Don Johnson’s role is no more than a cameo and, sadly, Kate Upton’s third wheel is merely eye-candy – but in fairness, so is her character. (If only the script was written by a woman. Surprise, it was!)

The good cast makes The Other Woman a pleasant, easy-to-watch kind of film. It might make you smile rather than laugh loudly, but Mann and Diaz steal their scenes and are worth the rental fee alone.
 

The Other Woman is available on Disney+ UK, as part of a £7.99 monthly subscription or a £79.99 yearly subscription.

 

Where can I buy or rent The Other Woman online in the UK?

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