The Other Man
Metascore
34 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 8 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 8
  3. Negative: 2 out of 8
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  1. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    50
    The biggest mystery in this wannabe thriller is why such topnotch actors would sign on for such a dreary movie that amounts to a mediocre soap opera.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Gary Goldstein
    50
    Approaching the film with, let's say, lowered expectations may go a long way toward appreciating what it attempts, as well as what it achieves.
  3. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    42
    The Other Man is self-conscious, overproduced, overacted Euro-marital hoo-ha.
  4. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    40
    A movie needs to announce if it's playing games. Pulling the rug out from under a viewer is fine for whodunnits and psychological thrillers and the usual suspects. But a supposedly grown-up drama like The Other Man ought to have scruples about where it plans to take you.
  5. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: David Fear
    40
    Everything from the script to the film’s score seems stock, and echoes of past victories--Eyre’s dissection of infidelity in "Notes on a Scandal," Neeson and Linney’s chemistry in "Kinsey"--only remind you of what these talents are capable of when the stars actually align.
  6. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    40
    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.
  7. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Peter Brunette
    30
    Seldom has such great star power been marshaled in the service of a sillier movie than The Other Man.
  8. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    30
    Muddled little dud of a melodrama.

User Reviews

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User Score
3.8 out of 10

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 3 out of 4
  1. Gandavien
    2
    This film promised to be like Taken, an exciting thriller, Liam Neeson hunting down the man who stole his wife. But what we actually got was a very pathetic film.… Full Review »
  2. Halfwelshman
    3
    The Other man some reasonable enough performances from its cast, competent, if uninspired direction from Richard Eyre and a pretty decent finale. Where the film falls short is in the unimaginative, and often lazy script, the lacklustre way the story is told, and in some complete missteps in tone. You're never on the side of vengeful husband Peter (Liam Neeson) - he just comes across as completely irrational and emotionally unstable, whereas you can completely understand why Lisa (Laura Linney) might have run off with the shady, but charming and romantic Ralph (Antonio Banderas). The majority of the film (excepting the unexpectedly entertaining chess matches between Neeson and Banderas, which really amount to an extended debate about who's bigger in the trouser department) moves along sluggishly, and offers little to keep you engaged in the story until the end. The final twenty minutes or so do approach something in the same ball-park as genuine drama, but by then it's too late to save the film, or even to redeem the morally bereft actions of Neeson's character. With a stronger script, a more original and entertaining story and more energetic direction, The Other Man might have been a diamond in the rough of slow-burning romantic dramas. As it is, the film is more akin to the rock that annoyingly conceals a precious gem.… Full Review »
  3. JennetP
    6
    I almost didn't view this film after reading the negative reviews. But because Eyre's last two are among my favorites, I decided to watch a few minutes, and am glad I did, though "The Other Man" did not measure up to "Stage Beauty" or "Notes on a Scandal." Like those films, it is interested in social constraints and the people who violate them. Here, the constraint is marital fidelity, which Peter (Neeson) never questions, even as his wife Lisa (Linney) cavorts with Ralph (Banderas). Almost as soon as the film opens, Lisa is gone, though she remains a central presence, recollected by the men who loved her. Hearing a passionate voicemail message from Ralph on her phone, Peter becomes obsessed, first with discovering the identity of Lisa's lover and later with discrediting him. Yes, Peter's obsession and his frequent rages seem disproportionate to his injury, but, rather than flaws in the writing, these are clues that we have not yet seen the complete picture. As indeed we have not--at least until late in the film, when a missing puzzle piece appears, poses for a moment as a trick, then begins retroactively explicating what we have seen. This strategy works only because the film is extremely vague about time and causality. We see Lisa walk out the door with an overnight bag at night; then we see Peter angrily discarding her clothes in daylight, and we assume, based on cinematic convention, that (1) she has left him, and (2) little time has passed. Neither is a safe assumption in "The Other Man," and whether you enjoy the film rests largely upon whether you believe Eyre is cheating or skillfully playing with the assumptions we bring to the medium. I am more inclined toward the latter view, though I do find the "play" a bit clumsy. At 87 minutes, this film is too short for its material, the gaps that allow its sleight-of-hand larger than they should be. Great performances, though, and some interesting ideas, especially about beauty.… Full Review »
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