The Other Woman review | Under The Radar

The Other Woman

Studio: IFC Films
Written for the screen and directed by: Don Roos; Starring: Natalie Portman

Feb 04, 2011 By Chris Tinkham Web Exclusive

Until her Oscar-nominated performance in Black Swan, Natalie Portman has had a scattershot film career since signing on for the Star Wars prequels. A supporting role in Closer earned her a Golden Globe, and Garden State was a minor hit, but how many folks saw Free Zone, Goya's Ghosts, My Blueberry Nights or New York, I Love You? The Other Woman, which has been sitting around without distribution since 2009, ultimately might be lumped in with these films, but it's finally being released at a time when Portman's never been hotter career-wise. Currently, she has two films in the box office top ten, and she's the favorite to take home the Oscar for Best Actress later this month. More significantly, The Other Woman marks a significant step in her development as an actress.

Portman plays Emilia, a Harvard law school graduate who falls in love with her boss, Jack (Scott Cohen), a married New York attorney. Jack leaves his wife, Carolyn (Lisa Kudrow), a respected doctor, for Emilia, who becomes a stepmom to Jack and Carolyn's 10-year-old son William (Charlie Tahan). Emilia and Jack have a daughter of their own, but she dies as an infant. As a grieving young mother who has difficulty bonding with her precocious but high-maintenance stepson, Emilia becomes entangled in a series of no-win situations that pigeonhole her as a cold stepmom and unfit for family life.

The Other Woman is adapted from Ayelet Waldman's novel Love and Other Impossible Pursuits. It's obvious that Emilia isn't a screenwriter's creation. She's too complex, has too much backstory, and her conflicts are too complicated for a typical screen character. Yes, Emilia is snippy at times and can be irresponsible, but, to the credit of screenwriter and director Don Roos, we know why. Emilia is the most rounded, intriguing character Portman has played since the '90s, and until Black Swan's Nina, perhaps the most difficult.

Big things were predicted for Portman during her tween and early teen years, after lighting up the screen in The Professional and Beautiful Girls. But subsequently, she began to take on safe projects, and until Black Swan, hadn't owned a performance since The Professional and Beautiful Girls. Maybe blame George Lucas and Harvard. Portman delivers a winking, humorous line about Harvard in The Other Woman. As her performance in 2009's Brothers attests, she's always handled grief and vulnerability well on screen, but day-to-day normalcy has eluded her. As an adult, she's infrequently appeared comfortable with exposition or idle chatter, the exception being the quirkiness that bailed her out early on in Garden State. Partly what made Black Swan a perfect vehicle for Portman is that her character is persistently beleaguered by pain and anxiety. The Other Woman requires a substantial amount grieving as well, but it's in Emilia's flaws where Portman disappears into character. She's no longer the fanboy crush that's played nice for years but a complicated woman. It's the first truly adult role of her career.

www.ifcfilms.com

Author rating: 7/10

Rate this movie
Average reader rating: 6/10