O Amante

This film is about a man who discovers his wife having an affair with someone in Italy. He is enraged and is determined to find and kill the adulterer.

"The Other Man" is an engaging drama about the enmeshed relationship of three people. The composition of scenes and the use of appropriate music enhances the atmosphere of the film. Acting is uniformly good by all three leads. Laura Linney appears appropriately frail at the end, Antonio Banderas is the macho ladies man, while Liam Neeson suffers in anger and grief. Despite the limited amount material, "The Other Man" manages to be captivating and engaging. If the story of "The Other Man" could be expanded, it would have been even better.

Richard Eyre has carefully constructed an intimate tale of a man who discovers his wife's infidelity.

Liam Neeson and Antonio Banderas provide subtle and mature performances, with Romola Garai outstanding as the daughter.

The film is beautifully shot on location in Milan and Lake Como as well as in London and Ely.

The plot twists are effective, leaving one to reflect on how little we can truly know of the people around us.

Nevertheless, the denouement feels a little forced, even if a logical conclusion to the narrative.

I'm shocked at the high ratings on this film. As much as I love Liam Neeson, this movie sucked. It was good for about a half hour and then it just dragged and I was ready for it to be over. Boring overall!

In Cambridge, the software engineer Peter (Liam Neeson) and the shoe designer Lisa (Laura Linney) are successful in their careers and have been happily married for twenty-five years. They have an adult daughter, Abigail (Romola Garai), and Lisa frequently travels to Milano to do business with the Gianni & Gianni Company. When Lisa is gone, Peter finds a message in her cellular and decides to snoop her e-mails and discovers in a secret folder named Love that she had a lover, Ralph (Antonio Banderas). Peter travels to Milano and stalks Ralph; he finds that the man plays chest in a bar. Peter gets close to Ralph that tells his relationship with Lisa without knowing that he is her husband.

"The Other Man" is an engaging romance about adultery and triangle of love among the husband, the wife and her lover. The story is supported by the excellent Liam Neeson, Laura Linney and Antonio Banderas but unfortunately the suspenseful screenplay has a disappointing conclusion. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Amante" ("The Lover")

A bit of an unwieldy film. This one came out around the same time as TAKEN, and like that film it sees Liam Neeson traipsing around Europe in a bit to reunite his family. However, this isn't an action film at all, but rather an exploration of adultery and the effect it can have on people's lives.

It's hard to work out the target audience. The threat of impending violence keeps things moving along at one stage, as does the mystery surrounding Neeson's wife's secrecy. But it's not a thriller at all, and in fact it's difficult to pigeonhole. Really it's more of an excuse to ruminate on love, jealousy, rivalry and more.

It's also one of those twist films, in which plotting plays a major part. I was torn between being slightly bored and fairly intrigued. Neeson is good, if not great, but Antonio Banderas bags the best role and is a delight. Laura Linney and Romola Garai provide strong support.