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 | woman | united states of america | 

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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

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, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$20,585, 27 February 2011

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Emilia and William are sitting in the park, William says "If you go to Collegiate, you can go to Harvard," Emilia responds "Harvard sucks." Natalie Portman, who plays Emilia, attended Harvard.

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Goofs

William's drawing from the middle of the movie is a different one from the one showed at the end of the movie. You can clearly see that drawn William on the first drawing is more sad than the William in the other drawing.

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Connections

References Jurassic Park (1993)

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Soundtracks

Sturm Von Kunststuffe
Written by Jay Weigel
Performed by Jay Weigel
Courtesy of Carondelet Music Group, LLC

User Reviews

Contrast to the standard rom-com

Inevitably seeing this movie brought to mind another with a similar title, "Love And other Drugs", which was released later but I saw first. As well as titles with the same three first words, both films are based on a book (in this case a successful novel by Ayelet Waldman), are scripted by the director (in this instance, Don Roos), have an attractive and young lead actress (in this one, Natalie Portman), and deal with challenging social issues (this time, step-parenting and infant mortality). However, where "..Drugs" was a romantic comedy, "..Impossible Pursuits" has less romance and very little comedy. In fact, at times it is quite harrowing.

It works because of an intelligent script (although the dialogue is sometimes hard to follow) and some fine acting, not just from Portman - who is excellent - but Scott Cohen as her husband, Lisa Kudrow as the ex-wife, and Charlie Tahan as the troubled child of the first marriage. Many films set in New York include scenes in Central Park, but here the location is particularly well used, especially in a silent walk to remember the deaths of the unborn or newly born. The soundtrack too neatly complements the action in a work that is well worth viewing as a contrast to the standard rom-com.