The Other Woman (2008)

Pretty Good

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

This TV movie is marred by a hackneyed plot, too many side characters sometimes looking too much alike, and distracting side stories, but it's saved by the solid performance of Josie Bissett.She plays Jill, who gave up a reporting career to become a teacher and settle down as the second wife of high-powered defense attorney Derek (Ted Whittall).Casting problems result in too close a resemblance between Derek's rebellious daughter and a lascivious new co-worker of his who sets out to steal him from Jill. Despite the many flaws in this film, Bissett's part is written well. She never stoops to stereotype in interacting with Derek's seductress. And her conversations with Derek's daughter are compelling -- surprises in a production like this.This film is damaged by a number of red herrings that are never well-explained. For example, glass shows up in a bowl of pasta clearly intended for Jill. But how could the sexy vixen have gotten into the restaurant kitchen? Derek's boss gets murdered and suddenly we plunge into a domestic-violence subplot. Why? In sum, here's a decent example of LMN as guilty pleasure...tasty, but not terribly nutritious.

In the space of just six days I have seen (arguably) the best film of 2008 (Changeling) and the worst (this one). Where to even start? A nonsensical plot was matched by some very poor acting. Loose ends everywhere and four actresses using the same peroxide bottle that made them difficult to tell apart.The main story concerns a bimbo who tells a wife she is going to steal her husband. There are side issues such as another wife murdering her husband and a daughter, who just mumbles her lines, with boyfriend problems and a mother who appears in just one scene (I think) for no good reason. Many of these stories are left unresolved at the end and you wonder just what the film was all about.Then there is the acting. The daughter who mumbles her way through is matched by the rest. I do not know any of the actors or actresses from other parts but I presume they may come from cheap daytime soap opera.As I write this, my apartment is being decorated. Watching the paint dry on the walls is more exciting than this film. Could someone at IMDb explain its rating for this film?

I enjoyed this film, and the theme actually has a surprise twist at the end, which makes the story intriguing and suspenseful.Jason Priestley deserves mention for direction here, I have seen a few of his other recent projects, and he connects well with the audience in a cameo role as news reporter. Josie Bissett is very good as Jill Plumley, a woman who at first believes she is married to the perfect man. An attorney and loving father (she thinks) portrayed by Graeme Black.At first the story involves an intern at her husband's law firm, Nicole (well portrayed by a devious Lisa Marie Coruk.) Jill's husband is being pursued by this annoying woman, and at first it isn't clear as to why. There is a peripheral story with the senior partner of her husband's law firm, and a troubled relationship with his wife.All in all a very well-presented, suspenseful Lifetime movie. Well worth watching. 8/10.

Jill was a journalist that left everything behind to start a life with her husband Derek, a husband that left his wife and daughter to be with her, now Jill is a University teacher and Derek is in the best moment of his career as a lawyer in one of the best firms in the city, everything is perfect until one day Nicole, an intern in the law-firm introduces her self to Jill and says "I'll marry your husband", since that day strange things start happening to Jill, but David, her husband doesn't see anything strange in Nicole.Will Derek found out the truth about Nicole? Or Jill will have to pay for what she did in the beginning?