THE OTHER WOMAN

THE OTHER WOMAN is basically a remake of the teen revenge comedy JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE for the forty-something set.  Cameron Diaz plays a power lawyer called Carly who's met a guy so perfect she wants to introduce him to her dad (Don Johnson).  But when Carly discovers that Mark (Nikolai Coster-Waldau - GAME OF THONES) is married to ditzy squeaky stay-at-home wife  Kate (Leslie Mann - THIS IS FORTY) the two women strike up an unlikely friendship.  But what starts of as Carly helping Kate to get a decent divorce settlement plan turns into a full on revenge-plot when they realise that Mark is also dating hot model Kate Upton, and using his wife to front a series of dodgy off-shore companies with which he's defrauding his clients.

When the movie works it works best as a buddy comedy and there's a genuine if cliched connection between the cynical Carly and the flakey Kate.   Carly comments once or twice that she doesn't quite know what skill-set Kate Upton's character is bringing to the revenge plot and I'd have to agree - this seems like stunt casting at its most pointless and vapid.  By contrast, I was pleasantly surprised by Nicki Minaj as Carly's secretary - she actually delivered her lines with some sass.  The real problem with the film is Nikolai Coster-Waldau. He's certainly good-looking and charming enough to convince as a thieving lothario, but he really cannot do physical comedy and this script demands that of him again and again.  It's just awkward.  If done well, a simple comedy based on a much-worn concept can still be fun.  But mis-casting is the fatal flaw of THE OTHER WOMAN.

THE OTHER WOMAN has a running time of 109 minutes and is rated PG-13.  THE OTHER WOMAN is on global release.