Films for Thoughts on Thursday: The Other Woman

This is a weekly meme that I am hosting here at Reviews from a Bookworm. I own over 500 books, I'mn a book blogger so it's kind of obvious that I love books. But the one thing I own more of than books is DVDs, I love movies, TV shows, musicals. So I think it's time to include a weekly movie review on the blog. To take part all you have to do is share a movie review once a week, link back to Reviews from a Bookworm and add your link to the linky tool.


This weeks movie review will be for:

Thus was a movie that I had decided to watch because I was going to the cinema with my mum. It was literally the only half decent looking film out that I 1. hadn't already seen and 2. that my mum would want to watch. I made the mistake of checking reviews before I went and they were abysmal. They were beyond bad and the film had a 24% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But, I mentioned I was going to a girl at work and she had seen it, she said she loved it but she wasn't really movie person. So, I went into the movie not really knowing what to expect but with pretty low expectations.

All I wanted from The Other Woman was for it to do it's job which, as it's a comedy film, was to make me laugh. It tells the story of Carly, a woman who hasn't settled down and likes being single and dating multiple men, that is until she meets the perfect guy, Mark. Now Mark brings her flowers, takes her to dinner and seems to be the guy she could actually settle down with. But that's before she shows up at his house to surprise him only to find out that he's already married. Carly is shocked, upset and immediately leaves, leaving his wife, Kate, very confused. Hoping that that's the end of it, Carly is horrified when Kate shows up at her work to ask whether she's sleeping with her husband. Carly wants nothing to do with Kate or Mark, but Kate is insistent. She feels like Carly is the only one she can talk to, and eventually they begin to bond and form a weird kind of friendship. But it's when they discover that Mark has yet another woman on the side that they truly join together to bring him down and that's when the fun really begins. 

I have to say that I adored the premise, that for once the women were coming together instead of being at each others throats. This movie completely accomplished the one thing I needed it to do, it made me laugh like crazy. But not just me, I was actually in a packed cinema with guys as well as girls and the whole audience laughed from beginning to end. People clapped at the end, that is not a thing you really see in cinemas here, unless you're at a midnight showing for a huge movie and you're all nerding out together *cough* Deathly Hallows Pt2 *cough*. The jokes involved things you had seen so many times in comedies but that didn't seem to make them any less funny.

Leslie Mann was the aspect of the movie I was most looking forward to, I adore Leslie Mann. She did not disappoint, she was the funniest part and person of the whole film. I know they put Cameron Diaz front and centre on the poster and she's the first name you get on the poster, but this is honestly Leslie Mann's film. She is utterly superb and her acting was fantastic, her inside crying had me in stitches. That woman does not get enough credit, she's a genius when it comes to comedies and she put everyone else in the movie to shame. She was the funniest part in Knocked Up and she takes the crown in this as well, definitely the Queen of Comedy. 

I felt bad for Kate Upton because her character was seemed a tad pointless. It felt like she was kind of only there to act as the 'dumb blonde' with the big boobs and the figure. It was a shame because when she did get a few moments to shine you could tell she had great potential, she just wasn't given much material to work with. Cameron Diaz played a character who was a little bit of a bitch at times, she could be a bit harsh towards Kate, which was surprising seeing as she was the one sleeping with her husband. You think she could be a little nicer. But they both grow as characters over the movie and I really enjoyed that.

I actually really liked Kate's struggle in this movie because it seemed realistic to me. She knows that her husband is a douche and she she's mad but she also finds him hard to let go. She's been with him for years and built a life with him, I thought it was realistic that it hurt and upset her to think of losing that. 

Yes, the movie was utterly predictable and the whole cinema knew what was going to happen. Yes, the storyline has been used many times before and is just like an updated version of The First Wives Club. And, yes, we all saw where each person's romantic life was going to end up. But, did I care? NOPE! It was hilarious, it had me in stitches and I adored Carly's character so much that I would sit through a horrific sequel just to get more of her. I also really, really appreciated the Fight Club reference in this, watch out for that one! 

7/10

If you're looking for an amazing piece of cinema then The Other Woman isn't it. If you're looking for a comedy that's going to make you laugh then you are going to be fine. It recycles jokes with seen a hundred times before and a plot that's just as well used, but it worked. I absolutely adored Lesley Mann and thought she was the best thing in the whole movie. My mum and I both enjoyed this, and the men in the cinema laughed a ton too which is always a good sign at a chick flick. Surprisingly, and I truly was surprised, I ended up really enjoying The Other Woman and will be making sure I watch it again when it's out on DVD. 

I have been meaning to take part in both of the following memes for a while now, so its nice to finally be able to get to them. I will be taking part in Reading is Fun Again's Thoughtful Thursday and Okay, Let's Read's  Thursday Thoughts, picking between them or doing both topics each week.

Have you ever continued to read a series because you really liked the secondary characters but didn't like the protagonist's very much?

Oooooh, I like that one. But, off the top of my head, the answer would be no. I don't think I have continued a book based on the fact that I like the secondary characters. That would probably help me to decide to continue, but it wouldn't be the deciding factor. I do love a series where I fall in love with the secondary characters as much as or more so than the main character. The main one that springs to mind is Harry Potter, it has so many characters and yet I loved so many of them. Harry has never been my favourite character, I love the boy but he just has such stiff competition from all the incredible secondary characters. A recent one would be the Under the Never Sky series, I adore Aria and Perry but who doesn't absolutely loved Roar?!? 

Series vs. Standalone - Do you have a preference when it comes to reading series vs. standalone? Will you ever be deterred from  reading a book because it is one or the other? What is your opinion on the trilogy trend? Do you feel like some series are forced and it's apparent in the writing?

Love this topic in particular and such brilliant questions. I adore both series and standalones, but I think I may prefer series. I am really impatient, which is why standalone books are always really great for me. But, on the other hand, I absolutely fall in love with characters and worlds and hate having to leave them after one book. Harry Potter began my absolute love of series and I don't think I will ever get sick of them. Who wants to say goodbye to an amazing character after only one book? It really all depends on how good the story is and if it's one that requires a series in order to tell it properly. If you finish a book and your first thought is:

then you know you're on to a winner!

But if I finish a book and realise by the shitty, cliffhanger ending that it is going to be a series and instantly think:

then it's a good sign that me and that series are no longer talking, no longer and friends and we won't be seeing each other EVER again!

But, I honestly believe that the trilogy trend is getting a little old. You read a book and then realise it's going to be a trilogy and you just think here we go again. It's starting to feel like every book that releases is going to be a trilogy, it isn't the case but it does feel like it. It's also seeming like more and more authors are feeling pressured or being pressured into turning a story into a trilogy. It starts to become apparant in the writing and I completely check out. I personally feel like the Divergent series was one where you could tell that the story had run out of steam and didn't really know where it was going. Allegiant, to me, felt like a bit of a train wreck as it was just Insurgents story regurgitated and changed a little bit. I recently read After the End and reviewed it, that is going to be a series but it felt forced. The story is one that could easily be told over one book and it felt intentionally dragged out in order to make it a series. Exile, another book I reviewed, is a contemporary that is going to be a series and yet it really has no need to be. I think publishers should start to realise that not everything has to be made into a series, standalones are fine too. 

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