The Other Woman (TV Movie 1995) Poster

(1995 TV Movie)

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7/10
When The Other Woman Was Really Needed ***
edwagreen13 August 2007
The way this film starts out, you would swear that we're in for murder and mayhem. James Read has divorced Tessa (Jill Eikenberry). The marriage produced 2 children. He has wed Laura Leighton, a young sexy model. Tessa is fuming and you think something is going to happen. Something happens all right. Tessa is diagnosed with terminal cancer and the film depicts the relationship that she builds with Leighton, the latter who shall take care of her children.

The film shows the coming of maturity of the Leighton character. She certainly rises to the occasion.

The last part of the film falters somewhat as it becomes preachy with the inevitable dialogue.

Nevertheless, the performances are quite good, especially those of Eikenberry and Leighton.

Lloyd Bridges gives a memorable but brief performance as the father who really never understood Tessa and now has to come to grips with what is occurring.
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Excellent TV-movie
blackie-515 February 2002
This is one of the best movies of the week ever. It is completely heartbreaking. Jill Eikenberry is amazing in this movie. She has a monologue at the end that absolutely rips your heart out. I'd rather watch this than feature films about people with fatal illnesses (like Autumn in New York) any day. Highly recommended.
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8/10
There is a later remake
jsrunaway12 October 2017
Three years later Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon plays the main roles in a remake called "Stepmon".

Ed Harris acts in that movie as well.

It is a little strange, a TV movie before a Blockbuster.

I prefer the movie from 1995.

"Stepmon" is only a performance to show us two of the female big cheeses of Hollywood.
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8/10
Family Values
lavatch8 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
"The Other Woman" is actually a misnomer for a film about the bonding of two women. When Tessa learns that she is terminally ill with cancer, she invites Carolyn, her husband's new wife, along for a trip with her two daughters to visit her father in Wyoming. The drama that unfolds is how the two women are brought together in a common feeling of love.

The scripting was outstanding. The early dialogue in which the repartee between Tessa and Carolyn was venomous as they resented one another gives way to the thoughtful words implicit in a newly found friendship. The actresses were exceptional, as well as the secondary roles of the husband and grandpa.

The film values were superb with shots of the breath-taking landscape of Arizona on the way to Wyoming. The film scoring supported the emotional dimension of the new connection being formed with the two daughters and Carolyn. By the midpoint, the audience recognized that this was a major tearjerker.

The film retained a simplicity of form, relying on moments of quiet intensity along with reflections on life and death. Perhaps unwittingly, the filmmakers memorialized a topic that seems to be in decline a quarter century after this movie was made: the importance of human decency and family values.
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Touching story tainted by weak directing and stupid commercials running across the screen
bill545-128 March 2009
Jill Eikenberry was great in this, as was Laura Leighton, and it was a touching story, and I loved that they didn't make this out as 2 women where one is the obvious "good" one vs the obvious "bad" one. Props to the writers. And the kids I thought did a good acting job too. However thanks to Lifetime channel's constant stream of ads flying across the screen while the movie was playing, sometimes at the most touching and crucial moments, it was all but ruined. Also the directing was often poor....for example when she tells her dad she has cancer, the camera is so far away you can't even see their faces, and they don't even hug. ??? They totally blew what should have been a very touching moment. Finally the end seemed just sort of thrown together at the last minute, was rushed way too much, and the final scene of the dad standing there looking like he was constipated or something (again the camera WAY too far away) was just odd. Anyway despite all that it was still worth watching - I just suggest finding it on rental if possible, or on a channel where they don't do the stupid ads across the screen (if that even exists anymore!).
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