It owes its air of mystery to a piece of narrative trickery that’s both obnoxiously manipulative and insultingly obvious.
Comment
09/15/09
The Other Man (2009)
18
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:34
Fresh:6
Rotten:28
Average Rating:4.1/10
Consensus: Despite the best efforts of a talented cast, The Other Man is talky, witless, and tension-free.
Rated: Not Rated
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Sep 11, 2009 Limited
Synopsis: Based on a short story by Bernhard Schlink, The Other Man is a love story about a man (Liam Neeson) who discovers that his wife (Laura Linney) has been involved with another man (Antonio Banderas).... [More]
Starring: Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas, Laura Linney, Romola Garai
Director: Richard Eyre
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Reviews for The Other Man
Top CriticThe result is B-grade cheese. The only genuine mystery, for me, is why such a fine cast signed on for such a witless movie.
09/25/09
As the pathetic, decent lothario, Banderas lacks sexual threat just as the script’s various miscommunications lack Pinter menace. Neeson is too rough-hewn for the conflicted cuckold.
09/09/09
A contrived, poorly crafted, sophomoric and bland thriller that can't even be saved by its stellar cast.
09/12/09
Strangely inhospitable, perhaps better appreciated three margaritas into a Sunday afternoon Lifetime film festival than a critical Friday night rental.
12/07/09
Everyone seems as if they're going through the motions.
09/25/09
It was directed by British theater director Richard Eyre, who knows how to line up the shots but not how to make us feel the compulsive hunger that drives Peter to the brink of a very tidy, stiff-upper-lip breakdown.
09/25/09
The screen version of Bernhard Schlink's short story The Other Man does not deliver. The secret at the heart of the film, after all the fractured narrative convolutions, is anti-climactic, and the conclusion is strained and awkward.
09/10/09
Stagy to a fault, and painfully uneventful, "The Other Man" suffocates from the pitiable writing at hand.
09/12/09
While we wait for the inevitable showdown, the film treats us to several surprising plot twists, but shock value can’t distract from the fact that Eyre and his actors are fighting a losing battle.
09/09/09
It hurts to see a terrific cast (including the lovely and intelligent young Irish actress Romola Garai as the couple's quietly seething daughter) squandered on such dreary filmmaking.
09/08/09
Top CriticGood actors (including Liam Neeson and Laura Linney) are wasted in Eyre's new film, which is neither effective as anatomy of a troubled marriage nor satisfying as a Hitchcockian thriller about a missing wife.
08/13/09
A turgid tale of adultery among the rich and boring.
09/29/09
Can you believe that a guy who once played Oskar Schindler and a woman who was Abigail Adams can go slumming in a less-than-appealing soap?
09/11/09
Its plotting leans more toward silly, soap opera-ish machinations, and while Banderas is as charming as ever, there are a couple of crucial bits of miscasting.
10/29/09
plays like a bleary, wandering dream.
09/10/09
A supposedly grown-up drama like The Other Man ought to have scruples about where it plans to take you. Trickiness for its own sake is simply a cheat.
09/11/09
Near the end, Peter issues this verdict on his romantic rival, “Appalling…but also rather wonderful.” Applied to the film itself, he’s half right.
09/11/09
The Other Man is self-conscious, overproduced, overacted Euro-marital hoo-ha.
09/09/09
Top CriticThe Other Man feels like a movie that focuses on the hole, instead of the doughnut.
09/10/09
Latest News for The Other Man
September 10, 2009:
Critics Consensus: 9 Looks Great, But The Plot's Weak
This week at the movies, we've got post-apocalyptic conflict (9, with voice work by Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly); Antarctic intrigue (Whiteout, starring Kate Beckinsale... More...
July 31, 2009:
Trailer Bulletin: The Other Man 
Why does Liam Neeson want to kill Antonio Banderas? Find out by watching the trailer for "The Other Man." More...
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