Taken + Unfaithful = The Other Man

Oh, man! Qui-Gon Jinn is pissed in this trailer for The Other Man. And why wouldn’t he be? First he’s got to rescue his spoiled rotten daughter in Taken, and now he learns his wife, played by Laura Linney (The Savages), is having sexytime with Antonio Banderas (The Legend of Zorro). On first glance, this looks like the writers from the aforementioned Taken linked up with the creative masterminds behind Unfaithful and pounded out a script for this your-having-an-affair-with-my-wife-and-now-I’m-going-to-stalk-you thriller. Moreoever, the September 25th release date (not quite summer movie, not quite ripe enough for Oscar/awards season) tells me the studio just doesn’t know how to approach this film. It’s kind of a buckshot release. Maybe it’ll be good; maybe it won’t.

One positive, aside from the cast, is director/screenwriter Richard Eyre. Does his name sound familiar? It should, as he’s the hand behind Notes on a Scandal (Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench) and Iris (Kate Winslet, Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent). This could be good and the trailer below has me leaning that way. Still, I don’t quite smell an awards fire burning under this movie. Am I wrong? What’s your take?