Day 29- Movie 28. The Other Man (2009)

After Liam Neeson disappointed me yesterday with the stupid After.Life, I decided to give him a chance at redemption. Sadly, The Other Man was even worse. This is one of the most pointless, boring, banal movies I've seen in quite a while. I usually like when movie stars take a role in a small, independent movie. It allows them to take a meatier role than they usually get in the traditional mainstream Hollywood movie. However, the movie actually has to be good for that to work. It doesn't here.

The Other Man is the story of a husband (Liam Neeson) who discovers his wife (Laura Linney) was having an affair. He tracks down the man (Antonio Banderas) she was sleeping with, and gets close to him as he plans his revenge. It sounds like a decent premise. However, the film completely muddles the story up. This is a movie that tried to be too clever for its own good, and ends up disappointing in nearly all aspects. The story was silly, the characters were boring, and at no point in the film did I even remotely care about the characters or what was happening to them. I shook this movie off effortlessly.

This is a film that never gives us a reason to get engaged on any level. The film is purposely confusing- unfortunately, that didn't engage me, it made me care less about what was happening on screen. This confusion is all for a reason- but that isn't made clear until the end. I do give the film credit for trying something different, but I was disappointed it didn't work at all.

The Other Man is actually the type of film I strongly dislike. It is a small, independent film that knows it's a small independent film. It casts big name actors, relying on their fame to sell the movie. It tries to experiment with the narrative, thinking it is so clever and so different that critics will undoubtedly fall in love with it. I hate when movies try to be different solely to be different. I love when movies take chances- as long as it supports the story and the viewing experience. Because this movie took a different route, it's a mess.

I don't even know what I'm talking about any more. It's hard to write about a movie when you can't give away too much for fear of spoiling the film. Let's just say I did not enjoy this movie at all, and I'll give it a 4.5/10.

I am closing in on finishing my first month of this 100 day challenge. On the 31st, I'll make sure I take some time to give an update on where I am thus far, and what I expect over the course of the next month. While I haven't done terrible so far, I still have such a long way to go. I feel like I've been watching movies until my eyes hurt, and I still haven't even finished off the first third. This may be more difficult than I imagined.