The Other Woman (2009)

The story of a woman dealing with her daughter's death while trying to keep her marriage and her relationship with her stepson.

Director:

Don Roos

Writers:

Don Roos (screenplay), Ayelet Waldman (novel)

Stars:

Natalie Portman, Scott Cohen, Lisa Kudrow

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Natalie Portman	...	Emilia
Scott Cohen	...	Jack
Lisa Kudrow	...	Carolyn
Charlie Tahan	...	William
Lauren Ambrose	...	Mindy
Michael Cristofer	...	Sheldon
Debra Monk	...	Laura
Mona Fastvold	...	Sonia (as Mona Lerche)
Anthony Rapp	...	Simon
Kendra Kassebaum	...	Sharlese
Elizabeth Marvel	...	Pia
Mary Joy	...	Marilyn
Maria Dizzia	...	Jaime Brennan
Ira Hawkins	...	Businessman
Laura Odeh	...	Waitress

Storyline

The story of a woman dealing with her daughter's death while trying to keep her marriage and her relationship with her stepson.

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Plot Keywords:

stepmother | manhattan new york city | based on novel | united states of america | sids | 

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Taglines:

Love makes everything possible.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

A song from The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is playing when Emelia and William go to the skating rink.

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Goofs

When William is piloting the boat at the end of the movie, his hair changes style multiple times. At first it has a part in the bangs, then the part goes away, then the part returns exactly where it was before.

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Quotes

Emilia: Why is she dead?

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Connections

References Jurassic Park (1993)

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Soundtracks

Waiting for the Moon to Rise
Written by Stuart Murdoch
Performed by Belle & Sebastian
Cava Sound Workshops, Glasgow

User Reviews

Portman delivers a believable character study

Natalie Portman delivers an astonishing character study as Emilia Greenleaf a woman who has, in her own words, broken one marriage, and seems unable to stop herself breaking her own following the death of her three day old baby. We see her demise through her relationships with William (Tahan), her husband Jack (Cohen), and his first wife Carolyn (Kudrow). When Portman is on screen with William the film seems to move in a believable direction and yet with Jack and with Carolyn, alone or together something seems not quite as understandably real.

At first I wanted to blame a lack of chemistry between Portman and Cohen and yet there are tender moments seemingly nullifying my questions about their relationship. Charlie Tahan is excellent throughout and so I am left with a question mark against the casting of Jack and Carolyn, or, perhaps, the screenplay involving them. Portman's character is simply played out as a determined and privileged young woman who cannot cope with being denied what she really wants and needs above all else - to be seen as the person she thinks she is and not the woman she really is. Her defensiveness is seen in many of the scenes Portman delivers which is why I consider her performance as astonishingly accurate and I just wish the flaws elsewhere could have been better handled.

Although there is a rewarding end to this film, a catharsis if you wish it to be one, it still leaves a feeling that you have watched an unfinished work, one which could and should have delivered so much more from the characters around Emilia. Perhaps, at heart, the film cannot get beyond a feeling of superficiality that surrounds some of the plot, which is a pity because it could have been so much better.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 October 2010 (Russia)

Also Known As:

17 Photos of Isabel

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,224, 6 February 2011

Gross USA:

$25,423

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,451,343

Company Credits

Production Co:

Incentive Filmed Entertainment, Handsomecharlie Films, Is or Isn't Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min 119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1