Benjamin Halford

Liam Neeson stars in this drama about a man who goes to Milan to find the man (played by Antonio Banderas) who has been having an affair with his wife (Laura Linney) with the intent on killing his wife’s paramour. Adapted from a short story by Berhard Schlink, The Other Man is a somewhat ham-fisted effort, hanging on an unlikely premise. Whilst the idea of realistically gender-swapping the old cliche of finding out about “the other woman” has substantial promise, the quest for blood that’s tacked onto it seems tacked-on and outright dumb (hilariously so given that this was made right before Neeson was reinvented as an action movie star) with no real justification. The talented cast are all pretty able and a third-act twist at least edges towards redeeming the till then preposterous set-up and allows for the best acting work in the whole film, but it’s too little too late.