The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Based on
Ayelet Waldman’s best-selling novel, Emilia Greenleaf (Portman) is an aspiring
associate lawyer whose life turns upside down when she falls in love with her
work colleague, Jack Woolf (Cohen) who is married to Carolyne (Kudrow)
and a father to seven-year-old William (Charlie Tahan). When Jack divorces
Caroline and marries Emilia, Carolyne becomes a bitter ex-wife who finds it
difficult to connect with her son and vilifies Emilia as a home wrecker. To make matters worse, Emilia gets pregnant
and then loses her infant daughter, and the presence of her stepson William
makes her grieving process much more difficult.

Even though
this film was shot back in 2009, way before Portman’s claim to Oscar glory
thanks to her role in Black Swan, Love
and Other Impossible Pursuits was shelved until 2011 and has now been released
to capitalise on Portman’s publicity. Alternatively titled The Other Woman in the US, the film was released straight to DVD in
January 2011.

The only
two praiseworthy performances in this film are both Portman’s and the young Tahan’s.
Portman proves that she’s a very capable performer, dealing with very complex
and difficult emotions: she’s apathetic and cold when her role calls for it, yet
she handles her character bravely and never loses grip on her likeability and
radiant on-screen charm.

Tahan is a
revelation as the high-strung stepson William, a rare young talent who shows exceeding
emotional depth and maturity for his age. The rest of the cast seem bland in
comparison: Cohen fails to make us sympathise or care about his character,
especially considering he’s guilty of cheating on his wife early on in the
film. Though Kudrow’s role adds some light sarcasm to a film already heavy on
melodrama, her scenes are few and far in between.

Although the
film was being advertised as a drama/comedy chick flick, in reality the film is
quite depressing and deals with heavy issues like loss and conflict.
Writer-director Don Roos, who also directed the tear-jerker Marley and Me, uses flashbacks to tell
the story, which may confuse audiences and makes for a very uneven film that goes back and forth between feel-good moments and downright
bleakness. The film doesn’t shy away from raw emotions either; some scenes may
prove to be too painful to watch, but at the same time they’re too touching to turn
away from.

Love and Other Impossible Pursuits is not worth seeing if you love romantic fairytales. The film doesn’t promise a cheery lovey-dovey story,
but it does deliver on realism, pain and the often-ignored sides of love and
relationships. If you are interested in compelling social dramas, then you
might want to give this film a go. It won’t rock your world, though.