But not just for women, star Cameron Diaz said, even though
the film is a tale of three women who band together to take
revenge on the cheating cad and reduce him to a whimpering mess.
"Everyone can relate to feeling betrayed," said Diaz, dismissing
any notions that "The Other Woman" is solely a "chick flick."
If men don't buy into that line, then there's the allure of a
screwball and slightly raunchy comedy with Kate Upton, the
curvaceous Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model, who makes
her first serious foray into acting as the second other woman.
The film from Fox, which opens on Friday in U.S. and Canadian
theaters, follows in the footsteps of female-driven comedies
"Bridesmaids" in 2011 and "The Heat," which was the top-grossing
comic film in 2013.
"The Other Woman" is expected to bring in $18 million at the box
office in its first weekend, according to Boxoffice.com, less
than "Bridesmaids" with $26 million and "The Heat" with $39
million, although those films opened in the busier movie-going
months of May and June, respectively.
Diaz, 41, plays the cool, competent lawyer Carly, who lets her
guard down when she falls for Mark, a suave businessman played
by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the Danish actor who stars in HBO's
medieval fantasy "Game of Thrones."
Carly discovers Mark is married. His wife Kate, played by Leslie
Mann, turns to Carly for support when she finds her world turned
upside down by her husband's infidelity.
Together, they discover him cavorting with the much younger
Amber, played by the 21-year-old Upton, who agrees to join the
team — known as "the lawyer, the wife and the boobs" — and take
Mark down.
For Diaz, the film — written and produced by women — is unique
because instead of a story "about three women getting in a
catfight over a man, they actually become friends."
"FEEL A BIT OF PAIN"
Much of the physical comedy is instigated by Mann, best known
for her roles in films like "This Is 40" from her
director-husband Judd Apatow. Her goofiness is only enhanced by
the gigantic dog she carts around New York City.
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Kate and Carly get sloppily drunk and begin their scheming, finding
themselves splayed out on the floor or stuck in the bushes in their
dogged determination to destroy Mark. Their performances bring to
mind Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy's outrageous antics in
"Bridesmaids."
Mann, 42, said director Nick Cassavetes pushed her out of her comic
comfort zone, and she found it "very liberating, a lot of fun for me
to just go crazy and have that freedom."
And she didn't lose the opportunity to poke fun at the husband who
has directed her in previous films.
"Screw Judd. He sucks," Mann said with a cackle.
Without revealing too many of the comic twists, it's safe to say
that Mark's manhood takes a beating, one that will tap into many a
revenge fantasy, and not just for women.
"I love watching self-important pricks fall on their face, and he is
that guy," said Coster-Waldau, who himself plays an entitled
swordsman of questionable morals in "Game of Thrones."
"Those guys, you just want them to feel a bit of pain," the
43-year-old actor added. "I enjoyed every second of it."
While there are sexual topics, some explicit language and bathroom
humor, Diaz along with the filmmakers and Fox succeeded in
overturning an initial R rating for the film in favor of PG-13,
which widens its potential audience considerably.
In a movie landscape largely populated by action heroes and animated
figures, particularly in the busy summer season, Diaz said she
thinks Hollywood is waking up to comedy driven by women.
"What I really love is that women can ask for these things," Diaz
said. "They can ask for films that represent them."
Mann chimed in: "Our movie is like sending a message to the studios
to make more."
(Additional reporting by Lisa Richwine;
editing by Piya Sinha-Roy
and Jan Paschal)
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