We have a running joke in the office about actors who follow up Oscar-worthy performances with trash and risk losing votes in the process. We call it "Norbit-ing" yourself out of an Oscar, in honor of Eddie Murphy losing the Oscar for "Dreamgirls" after billboards of him dressed as a fat woman started popping up around town at voting time. I don't think Natalie Portman, poised to win Best Actress for "Black Swan," is in any danger with the two new films she has coming out in January, even though one ("No Strings Attached") pairs her with Ashton Kutcher. The second film, "The Other Woman," gets a VOD release from IFC on January 1 before going to theaters on February 4, and it looks like an interesting project. The movie is written and directed by the great Don Roos, based on the novel "Love and Other Impossible Pursuits" by Ayelet Waldman--I assumed they changed the title for the film thanks to the recent release "Love and Other Drugs." The film premiered at Sundance earlier this year to generally positive reviews. But there were a few things I couldn't help thinking while watching the trailer:
--Apparently this is not the funny, wacky Don Roos of "The Opposite of Sex" but a more mature, throughtful Roos. The story focuses on a young woman named Emilia (Portman) who falls for her married co-worker (Scott Cohen). He eventually leaves his wife (Lisa Kudrow) and has a baby with Emilia, who dies shortly after birth. Just when I was thinking this was going to be a dead kid movie, the trailer changes tacts and seems to focus on the relationship between Emilia and her stepson, which seems far more interesting.
--Don Roos is again employing the great Lisa Kudrow, as he did in "Opposite of Sex" and "Happy Endings" but I do wish he would cast her as something other than an uptight shrew sometime. I'm also kind of surprised they reveal in the trailer that Portman steals Kudrow's man (I guess it helps explain the title) as it makes her pretty unsympathetic right off the bat.
--Who the heck is Scott Cohen and how did he land this meaty role? At first glance, I thought it was Jon Hamm playing the husband but it turns out to be lookalike Cohen. A jaunt over to IMDb shows Cohen has done his time on TV, recurring on "NYPD Blue" and "Law and Order: Trial By Jury" and most recently popped up in the movie--what a coincidence!--"Love and Other Drugs."
While I'm not sure I'll be rushing out to see the film, it doesn't look like Portman is in any danger of embarrassing or Norbit-ing herself with this one. As for "Thor"...I'm still reserving judgment. But at least that one's not due out til May, long after the Oscar ballots have been counted.
--Jenelle Riley