The Other Man

Liam Neeson thinks he is happily married to Laura Linney, but in the early scenes it is clear that she is at least thinking about having an affair. And then she is gone, without explanation. Sorting through her stuff, he finds evidence that she has been seeing Antonio Banderas for at least a few years. He is enraged, tracks him down. He is a handsome and wildly romantic Latin lover, everything a reader of romance novels could dream of. Instead of killing him, though, Liam develops a relationship over a chess board.

I debated issuing a spoiler warning and discussing the ending, but decided not to. I’ll say that Antonio is not what he seems, and that there is a “surprise” that didn’t surprise me at all. In the end, it all added up to a big pile of nothing. All build-up and no pay-off. No wonder it was a total bomb, both critically and financially. Don’t waste your time.