recommended

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Brilliant and touching

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

I could not finish watching this movie. Boring, predictable, poor performances,clichés, miscast. It becomes boring right from the start- unbelievable situations, conversations,melodramatic script. Almost all performances are unbelievably bad, the kid including.Can Lisa Kudrow even act? I don't know how it ended and don't care. I quit when they were getting ready for a remembrance march- the whole thing looked so fake,including emotions. Marching to show your grief- something is very screwyhere.

From the first scene as I was watching this movie it was made clear that it was not a romantic feel-good film. It was not about creating happy and beautiful couples. Even the adultery in the movie wasn't what this all was about. The main plot of the movie, the main theme, was the loss of a child and how it affected the parents and those in their close vicinity. Emilia usually gets a lot of critique from viewers - from what I've seen - because of her status as a "homewrecker". I'd like to add that this isn't what the movie is about. It is true that her character entered a relationship with a married man, but that relationship is never justified. The point of the movie isn't to paint her out as a terrific girl while his first wife (beautifully portrayed by Lisa Kudrow) is supposed to be painted out as a horrible person who deserved what she got.Through-out the film it's clear that the ex-wife holds a grudge towards Emilia and she does act out on it a lot, delivering hateful comments and says things just with the intention to cause pain. But at the back of my mind this behavior was always justified. She had been wronged and betrayed, and I don't believe the creators were trying to make her out to be vindictive or spiteful - just hurt and angry because of that hurt. And Emilia was never given scenes where she tried to justify what she'd done, or where the viewers were supposed to choose her "side" in the whole ordeal.The main theme of the movie was the child that Jack and Emilia lost and how that affected their relationship and most importantly how Emilia lived with the guilt of thinking she was the reason why their child had died. Jack points this out, saying that she hurts the people closest to her the most, and it affects their relationship so strongly that it comes to an end. The strongest scene for me, and the one scene that definitely showed what kind of person the ex-wife really was and where it became crystal clear that it wasn't about revenge or hatred but pain and betrayal, was when Emilia gets called to Carolyn's office so that the latter could make it clear that it wasn't Emilia's fault that her daughter died. Carolyn did this for her son, yes, but she didn't have to. If she'd been a horrible person, that a lot of viewers seem to think the director wanted her to look like, then she wouldn't have done it. This scene really implements that it was never about making anyone the victim or anyone the bad guy, but just about showing the situation for what it was and how everyone handled it differently, reacting as real human beings.I saw no glorification or romanticism of the affair. I saw no trying to blame it all on the horrible ex-wife. I saw three people who ended up in each others life because of a mistake and they all handled it as best as they could.As for the performances I thought Natalie Portman, Lisa Kudrow and Scott Cohen all did an amazing job. The movie itself is a very emotional journey if you're open to seeing the bigger picture instead of trying to find someone to blame or hate.

Excellent film with Natalie Portman as the second wife of an attorney enduring a rocky relationship with her husband's son from his first wife, and a first wife, a doctor, who is nasty to the hilt.Charlie Tohan, as the young son, delivers a powerful performance as the precocious son William.There is tension in the air with a great reason. Seems that Portman and her husband lost a 3 day old baby girl and the boy keeps bringing it up.The film is an excellent one as it well describes the family relationships. Lisa Kudrow, as the first wife, is also very good here. She will go to bat for Emilia when the latter thought that she had accidentally smothered the baby.The film is handled in a mature way with upper class people finding their way through difficult emotional times.

"The Other Woman", directed by Don Roos, is an overall satisfying and turbulent drama set in New York City regarding well-to-do families and inter-relationships as well as extra-marital consequences. At the conclusion, my wife and I agreed that we had some pretty heavy disdain for Portman's character (Emelia) who immorally ignored the fact that the man she was attracted to was married going after him or allowing him anyway. The hypocrisy that the script finally goes over a bit when relating to her own father cheating was a good angle to explore. None of this is really though the focus of the movie but more theatrics. Easily what makes this movie very good is the wonderful relationship that blossoms out between Emelia and stepson William with all it's friction. The ending scene is outstanding and helps you look past other clichés and short-comings.