Movie Review: The Other Woman [SPOILERS]

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I had a Netflix night at home, and stumbled across The Other Woman. The only reason I was even interested in watching it was because Natalie Portman is in it. The entire movie is based on the dysfunction of this family; I can't stand dysfunction in real life or otherwise (read my blog post about the movie Remember Me). The plot goes like this:

Portman is a home wrecker and has an affair with a man she works with. His ex-wife (played by Lisa Kudrow) is insanely bitter and tries to turn her son again his step-mother. The son himself (played by Charlie Tahan) is incredibly annoying and rude, using his mother's word to hurt Portman's feelings. The main issue that plagues everyone is that Portman's character lost her baby just days after the baby was born. Kudrow uses this to show that Portman is not a good mother; Tahan suggests selling the baby's things since she's dead and she wasn't even a real person (according to Jewish law). The death of her child haunts Portman, and at one point she even claims that she killed the baby! Her husband (i.e. the guy who married her because he got her knocked up) can't take all of the angst anymore, and Portman leaves. The movie tries to end somewhat happily when Kudrow and Portman have a moment of understanding, but it's not enough to save this sad story.

None of the relationships shown in this movie are happy (including that of Portman's parents: they got divorced because her father cheated), and quite frankly there is nothing redeeming about the film. Not even the costumes or the music or the cinematography are note-worthy. If you want to feel depressed and miserable, watch this movie. But otherwise, skip it. Portman has starred in many other films that are much better. I give this movie 1 star.