Movie Review - The Other Man (2008)

The Other Man
Starring Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas, Laura Linney, and Romola Garai
Directed by Richard Eyre

I watched this little movie solely because of Liam Neeson and Laura Linney. Going into it, the only thing I knew about The Other Man was that Neeson and Linney played a married couple and, one night, Linney disappears. Neeson's character Peter soon discovers that his wife was having an affair with a sexy Spanish guy (Banderas, who I guess is the "go to" guy when the script calls for "sexy" and "Spanish" despite the fact that he's nearly fifty and he mumbles his English dialog in a nearly incomprehensible fashion). Much like his "kick-assery" in Taken, Neeson gets hellbent on undertaking a mission to kill his wife's lover.

Now, the plot for the first half is fairly straightforward, but it's boosted by an impressive turn from an angry and heartbroken Neeson. Unfortunately, about halfway through, there's a twist that comes out of nowhere and throws a kink into the whole shindig. Twists built on camera trickery and editing rather than story-driven surprises are always disappointing and it's no different here.

It's a shame, really, because it's nice to see a drama with adults acting as adults. This one just doesn't make the grade, however.

The RyMickey Rating: D+