The Other Man

This isn't a simple film. It's a film that plays with time to tell a story encompassing love, jealousy, anger, loss and pain. It covers the gamut of emotions one feels when betrayed and follows the path a man goes down as he discovers his wife has had another love.

I loved Liam Neeson's descent into jealous rage and the discoveries he made about himself, his family and his relationship as he discovers secrets from his wife's past. A moody film, perfectly adapted to its subject matter, you feel drawn into Neeson's character's despair.

It's not the best film I've seen recently but it's one I'm glad I saw and would heartily recommend it to others who are willing to think a film through its details. The acting's good and both Liam Neeson and Laura Linney carry the plot well. Antonio Banderas plays a less rounded role, but still does so enjoyably.

Definitely a film worth watching.

Liam Neeson plays Peter, the husband of a famous shoe designer named Lisa(Laura Linney). After some suspicions Peter realizes that his wife hasn't been faithful and when he finds the address of Ralf(Antonio Banderas), the man his wife cheated on him with, he travels to Italy to confront him. When I saw the trailer for The Other Man, I immediately thought the film had a great premise; a man finds out that his wife has been cheating on him and then he tries to track down this man and execute some kind of revenge. That is what you get from the trailer, however, the trailer is incredibly misleading, the story doesn't pan out like that. Not even close. But what really ruined this movie for me, was the direction. Most of the scenes seemed glued together. You're watching a scene and all of a sudden you're watching something completely different and you're left wondering if you missed the last 10 minutes of the film. The reason why the film is like that, is because the director introduced a twist near the end but, until that moment, nothing makes sense, and when the reveal finally comes, it's a terrible letdown. This premise and cast on someone's else hands could have been something great. Unfortunately, all Richard Eyre's was able to do, was a boring and poorly executed movie.

5/10

In Cambridge, the software engineer Peter (Liam Neeson) and the shoe designer Lisa (Laura Linney) are successful in their careers and have been happily married for twenty-five years. They have an adult daughter, Abigail (Romola Garai), and Lisa frequently travels to Milano to do business with the Gianni & Gianni Company. When Lisa is gone, Peter finds a message in her cellular and decides to snoop her e-mails and discovers in a secret folder named Love that she had a lover, Ralph (Antonio Banderas). Peter travels to Milano and stalks Ralph; he finds that the man plays chest in a bar. Peter gets close to Ralph that tells his relationship with Lisa without knowing that he is her husband.

"The Other Man" is an engaging romance about adultery and triangle of love among the husband, the wife and her lover. The story is supported by the excellent Liam Neeson, Laura Linney and Antonio Banderas but unfortunately the suspenseful screenplay has a disappointing conclusion. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Amante" ("The Lover")

I'm shocked at the high ratings on this film. As much as I love Liam Neeson, this movie sucked. It was good for about a half hour and then it just dragged and I was ready for it to be over. Boring overall!

This film is ultimately disappointing and deserving of its relatively low rating because its edit is annoying and telegraphs where it is going. World-class actors contribute tension and pace and a poor edit simply brings the movie to a complete stop. If ever there was an example of how important editing is to a movie, this is it. Film classes should look at this movie, deconstruct it, and put it back together in a more interesting way. If you watch this film, think about simply reordering several scenes to build tension and mystery and remove confusion. It's a worthwhile exercise. Movies are a complex undertaking that requires contributions of so many -- many folks labored over this film but the folks who put it together just didn't have the talent to pull it off.