The Other Woman (2009)

The Other Woman: Directed by Don Roos. With Natalie Portman, Scott Cohen, Lisa Kudrow, Charlie Tahan. The story of a woman dealing with her infant daughter’s death while trying to keep her marriage and her relationship with her stepson.

“The Other Woman (2009)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYou might put up with this glaringly mediocre film by seeing how it deals with things that matter to ordinary people. Ordinary very rich people. Itu0026#39;s about relationships, about wanting a child and having that go wrong, about taking care of someone elseu0026#39;s child. Itu0026#39;s about cheating and being in love and falling out of love. I mean, itu0026#39;s all good stuff.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut the writing is routine to the point of deadening. The filming (photography) is either routine or it strives in little ways to be u0026quot;interestingu0026quot; by moving or gliding, but for no real reason except to keep it from being static. The acting is solid but unexceptional, including the main performance by a good Natalie Portman. The music is saccharine, at least against the backdrop of these events, as if trying to inflate them.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYes, this is an annoying movie if you pay attention to how it is made. If you are just watching for what happens, itu0026#39;s fine, but frankly just a bit boring. And besides Portman, the main star is, in some ways, the boy who is shuttled between parents and stepparents, and heu0026#39;s weirdly unsympathetic (on purpose). There are little moments that are meant to be intensely personal, and yet they seem like theyu0026#39;re u0026quot;meantu0026quot; to do that. It doesnu0026#39;t emerge from events, or from character.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eUgh. I know many people will see this and like a lot of it. Good! Itu0026#39;s not on the surface too bad, I know that. But the more I watched the more it got under my skin like lice.”