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42 out of 62 people found the following review useful: Sensitive study of infidelity. loss and loneliness, 18 October 2008 Author: pauldcmt-1 from United Kingdom
Richard Eyre has carefully constructed an intimate tale of a man who discovers his wife's infidelity. Liam Neeson and Antonio Banderas provide subtle and mature performances, with Romola Garai outstanding as the daughter. The film is beautifully shot on location in Milan and Lake Como as well as in London and Ely.The plot twists are effective, leaving one to reflect on how little we can truly know of the people around us.Nevertheless, the denouement feels a little forced, even if a logical conclusion to the narrative.
27 out of 33 people found the following review useful: Good cast, interesting premise, terrible direction, 29 August 2009 Author: KVolchok from Portugal
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 goes to Italy to confront him.When I saw the trailer I immediately thought that The Other Man had a great premise, a man finds out that his wife has been cheating on him and then he tries to track down the other man to execute some kind of revenge....that is what you get from the trailer,the thing is, the trailer is completely misleading,the story isn't really like that,in fact it is nothing like that.But what really ruined this movie for me was the direction. The scenes seemed glued together; you're watching a scene and in the next moment you're watching something completely different and you're left wondering, did I just missed the last 10 minutes of the movie? The reason why the movie is like that is because the director introduced a twist near the end but until that moment nothing makes sense,and after that moment, its just a terrible letdown. This premise and this actors on someone's else hands could had been something great,in Richard Eyre's hands its a poorly executed movie.5/10
10 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Good acting but silly plot, 4 September 2009 Author: Carrie Sanders from Australia
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
The movie is very confusing, but the few clues suggest the following. Lisa married young and was probably bored. She had the chance to experiment and did so with the silly Ralph, a man whose life is purely on fantasy. She hid the affair from her husband for several years who was completely devoted to her, but when struck by cancer, she decided to leave him clues so that he could discover the affair. This is probably where your mind has to be a little twisted to follow her logic for doing this. In leaving naked photo evidence of her affair and clues to help her husband track down her lover the nut case, she could only expect that he could become enraged and hate her. Given how much they are supposed to love each other, one can only think that she was concerned that he might not be able to get over her death and so proceeded to make sure that he would hate her and in the process, get over her.Peter worked out her plan in the end and that just made him forgive her and love her regardless - hence the 'thank god for Ralph' at the party and the comment to his daughter at the station 'she didn't know us at all did she'.
6 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Best ingredients, mediocre results, 3 July 2009 Author: birck from Philly
In spite of an excellent cast, cinematography, and production values, something vital seems to have been left on the cutting-room floor. There are details that work quite well, such as-in one scene- Peter's slight Irish accent, which becomes more and more pronounced as he becomes more and more enraged. But for the story arc to work, a key piece of information has to be hidden-clumsily- until it can be trotted out at the most effective moment. When that moment comes, at first it doesn't make sense, then it just seems artificial and unfair. Maybe it won't seem that bad to you, but the twist undermined the story for me. If you can put up with that lack of authenticity, the characters are well-drawn and believable, and the locations are convincing.
2 out of 3 people found the following review useful: A Battle Of The Witless, 17 December 2009 Author: thechrisclarkblog from United States
What do you get when you combine two Oscar nominees, one Golden Globe nominee, an up-and-coming young talent, and the director of the brilliant "Notes on a Scandal"? Apparently, to my intense surprise, you get a lifeless and poorly-crafted thriller...well, a thriller in name only, since there are no thrills and no compelling story to speak of. To call it a disappointment would be one of the year's gravest cinematic understatements. "The Other Man" is not merely disappointing; it is rather a travesty, as we are essentially watching three great actors and one great director flounder in a film that is simply bad in just about every aspect. Starting from the ground floor, the screenplay is spineless and unappealing, attempting to tell a potentially intriguing story in a lazy and clumsily-executed way. It rarely calls for the characters to do anything more than go through the motions and talk about insignificant things for extended periods. When it unveils its two big twists, it does so with a fizzle rather than a bang—an arduous, painful fizzle.Read My Full Review Here: www.thechrisclarkblog.blogspot.com
3 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Thoughtful and provocative, 4 September 2009 Author: ken_bethell from Spain
My wife and I must have discussed this film for much longer than it took to view it and for that alone I am marking it high for surely to provoke thought and debate is what film making is all about. When reading other comments I realised how differently people viewed this movie. The Director,in my opinion,has been unfairly criticised for clearly many people find the frequent jumping from past to present confusing and irritating but without constant reference to past events the plot would have been dull and predictable. The acting, as you would expect from such an ensemble, was excellent as was the photography. While one commentator felt sorrow for the Linney character I felt nothing but contempt which is indicative of the full spectrum of emotions this film undoubtedly engendered.
God this was boring, 29 December 2009 Author: warmtrooper from Berkeley, CA
Man's wife "disappears" and he is left only with the clue that she might be cheating on him with some man in Milan. Husband goes to Milan to discover the truth. Neeson seems to be reprising Harrison Ford's roles of "man trying to find/grieve over missing wife/child" theme. Neeson already filmed "Taken", about a man finding his missing/kidnapped daughter. Now he's going international again, the feisty Irishman, to find his love. But he seems miscast and stiff, although he does his best.Banderas steals the show as the "other man" Ralph (pronounced "rafe")who is all passion, reserving his cold calculation to the chessboard (those scenes were well done; I'm a chessplayer). Banderas is a genuinely good actor, despite his sex symbol status; every role I see him in he lends an intelligent, yet boyish passion.But due to the sparse dialog and stodgy direction, this film was stuck in second gear almost the whole time. It dragged and there were unbelievably long dialog pauses, and scenes where we are just looking at still figures sitting, standing, lying in bed...yawn. Instead of having any real "thrills", this was just one long, boring drama, with a very small number of characters, despite the international locations (Milan, London). Also, I don't see how the wife (Linney) redeems herself at the end at all; in fact, I think her actions just make her look a bit selfish and deluded, which is completely against the writer's intention, of course.4 paltry points out of 10.
1 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Subtle., 11 December 2009 Author: karl_consiglio from Malta
This film did have one or two flaws I must point out. When Peter first finds out about the infidelities, he starts blatantly showing everyone he's going a little crazy, asking for a gun and all. And if he wishes to go and kill that guy, is it wise of him to ask his secretary book his flight? Apart from that I really liked this movie. I thought it very subtle and having many different layers to it. I loved the characters, some fine acting, and was shocked to find out she was dead, and that all her concerns earlier in the film were not necessarily due to the fact that she had a lover but death was the one. I found it interesting how Ralph, although his life was rather unstable, had a more positive approach to life, even on a passionate level. While Peter, settled in his marriage and well off financially, or oh well I don't, I guess that way he had more to lose.
1 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Engrossing film of obsession... Love... betrayal, 21 July 2009 Author: mahrq from Canada
Honestly never heard of the movie, but glad I did manage to come across it.It starts somewhat slow, but not terribly slow. I think its almost needed to introduce you to the characters.From there... Liam's character finds emails and pictures leading you to an affair abroad.The movie moves forward and backwards in time, giving you just enough information to stay interested and somewhat curious.As the twists come, you feel deep pain for Liam's character, and anger towards Antonio's character.But, as you find out more... in the end, you just feel deeply sad for his wife and the men she loved.
3 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Suspense Askew, 13 December 2009 Author: gradyharp from United States
THE OTHER MAN is a thinking person's film, a film well cast, finely acted, and well written by writer/director Richard Eyre based on a short story by master storyteller Bernhard Schlink ('The Reader', 'Flights of Love' - collection of short stories from which this story is excerpted, etc). If some viewers find the film confusing or too subtle in the unraveling of a fascinating tale, the problem is that the cast and director and writers demand more of the viewer's attention than in the usual movie fare. A suspense film should keep the viewer in the dark, or thinking in one direction, until a little twist changes the story that has been unfolding on a different level. That is what THE OTHER MAN does and it is a pleasure to be surprised in this way. Peter (Liam Neeson) is a successful business man whose wife Lisa (Laura Linney) is a successful and high profile shoe designer. He spends much of his life in her shadow but the marriage works for them both and they obviously love each other and their young rambunctious daughter Abigail (Romola Garai) who is attached to the somewhat hippie, strange George (Craig Parkinson). Lisa's office comrades - Ralph (Patterson Joseph) and Vera (Pam Ferris) - are supportive of both Peter and Lisa and the world seems balanced. Very early in the film Lisa departs for Milan for another showing of her shoes, but she doesn't return. Peter grows suspicious when he discovers insinuating email messages from a man named Ralph, and once he discovers this Ralph is not her office comrade, he sets out on a mission to find the source of his wife' surprise infidelity. He discovers pictures taken in a special hotel in Milan, pictures that reveal photos of 'Ralph' (Antonio Banderas) in intimate situations with Lisa. Peter travels to Milan with the intent to kill Ralph, stalks him, and discovers his pastime of playing chess in a little Milanese café. And this is where Schlink and Eyre change the twist of the story, and Ralph is not at all whom he appears to be, nor is the direction of Peter's vengeance as focused as we expected. It is this crucial turn of storyline that make this film so endearing and to suggest, even slightly, the final moments of this film would destroy the suspense so well written and directed and acted. Neeson, Linney, Banderas, and Garai are all splendid in these difficult roles - Linney continues to mature as an actress while becoming ever more beautiful in countenance. This is a tightly drawn suspense tale and well worth the attention of the public unafraid to think along with the development of the story. Grady Harp
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