Other Woman, The MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +1 Content: -4

Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton. Comedy. Written by Melissa Stack. Directed by Nick Cassavetes.

FILM SYNOPSIS: After discovering her boyfriend is married, Carly soon meets the wife he's been cheating on. And when yet another affair is discovered, all three women team up to plot mutual revenge on the three-timing hubby.

PREVIEW REVIEW: While I can sympathize with these ladies being wronged by a jerk, I’m always uncomfortable with revenge movies. (It’s that whole love your enemies thing.) That said, it’s hard to take anything too seriously in this movie. Certainly, no one on screen does. No hair gel for Ms. Diaz in this one, but the film has no shortage of crude and lowbrow humor. (Example: unaware he’s taking a laxative, the antagonist has a terrible time with diarrhea – and we get to experience it right along with him. Didn’t we already have to endure the runs in the name of comedy during Bridesmaids and Death at a Funeral – both versions?)

The rest of the so-called comedy isn’t so much ribald as it is rancid. After making sure the cheating man consumes hormone pills and hair-loss products, which causes him mental anguish, they then do whatever they can to mess with his financial security. It’s all played for laughs, but these ladies are annoying, mean-spirited and devious, making them little better than their cheating man.

Sometimes clichéd, often laborious, due to slow and miscalculated pacing, the plot is predictable and overly familiar, and the language is coarse and profane, proving once again that to Hollywood, a new idea is an old idea with more expletives.

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: 20th Century Fox