The Other Half
By Ed Hulse -- Video Business, 10/6/2008
BFSStreet: Oct. 28
Prebook: now
> Bland British comedy has picturesque locations but low laugh quotient.
This British rom-com probably won’t make a dent on American home viewers, who won’t recognize stars Danny Dyer and Gillian Kearney and don’t share the U.K.’s passion for soccer, which drives the plot. Newlywed Mark Lamanuzzi (Dyer), a “football” enthusiast, takes his American wife Holly (Kearney) to Portugal for their honeymoon. But he has an ulterior motive: the European Soccer Championships are there, and he expects to attend the game. Fitfully funny and blandly acted, Other Half does boast gorgeous cinematography.
Shelf Talk: You can compare Other Half to the 2005 Drew Barrymore-Jimmy Fallon rom-com Fever Pitch, an American remake of a British film that bears thematic resemblance.
Comedy, color, NR (mature themes, language), 101 min., DVD $24.98Extras: featurette, deleted scene
Directors: Marlowe Fawcett, Richard Nockles
First Run: DVD premiere