THE OTHER WOMAN

Gentle Readers,

I discovered a movie that actually took the bad Natalie Portman Black Swan taste out of my mouth. It's called The Other Woman.

Portman plays Emilia, a lawyer who falls in love and has an affair with a partner at the firm where she works -- Jack (Scott Cohen). The problem is that Jack is married to Carolyne, an OB/GYN played by Lisa Kudrow. But then Emilia discovers she's pregnant and Jack leaves Carolyne to marry Emilia. Now Emilia really has a problem because Jack has an appendage, a son named Will (Charlie Tahan).

Emilia has difficulty adjusting to life with a stepson, and Will's mom is no help. Carolyne seems bent on poisoning Will against Emilia. I can't say I blame Carolyne. When your husband leaves you for the other woman, especially when the other woman is pregnant, it would be pretty difficult not to release venom around your child. Of course, it's a huge mistake that only makes Will and Emilia and Jack more and more unhappy, and Emilia really suffers when their daughter, Isabel, dies when she's three days old.

Will, at times, seems to taunt Emilia about the death of the baby. Will is only eight years old, and I kind of think he knows what he's doing; but the seeds have been planted by his mom. But when it turns out that Emilia believes Isabel's death was her fault, it's Will who leads the way to the truth, and ultimately, I hope, to some healing.

Obviously I was impressed by Natalie Portman if this performance could help me recover from hating her for winning the Academy Award over my beloved Annette Bening. Portman still shouldn't have won, but at least Portman isn't the horrible actress I thought she was.

I was also very surprised at the intensity and excellence of Lisa Kudrow's performance. She's haggard and hateful and crushed. This is most definitely not the dumb girl from Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. Kudrow is a real actress and she proves it in The Other Woman.

Young Charlie Tahan is also very good as Will.

I wanted this film to have a happy ending and I thought it would and then I thought it wouldn't and then things turned out o.k.

Up and down, riding the roller coaster, just like real life.

Infinities of love,

Lola