One of the disconcerting aspects of movie-going is how — on more occasions than you're prepared for — you have to endure the sight of a favorite actor playing someone despicable. For me, that happens sometimes with Natalie Portman. Gorgeous and sizzling and talented, she's always lovely to watch but not so easy to like.
Perhaps it's that aura of East Coast elite meets Fair Trade wardrobe meets "Do you have a vegan menu?" meets Oliver Peoples clear-lens sunglasses? Difficult to say, really. And in spite of her reportedly sky-high IQ (or maybe because of it), Portman tends to stay away from roles that could earn her some much-needed street cred (according to industry reports, Christina Ricci picks up the roles Portman turns down). She was seamlessly awesome in "Black Swan," but Portman's other vehicles released this year could cause some head-scratching. Ashton Kutcher's sex friend in No Strings Attached" is a case in point. And her latest (although it showcased at the Toronto International Film Festival two years back), "Love and Other Impossible Pursuits," is another.
"Love and Other ... " is based on a novel by Ayelet Waldman, but during a nearly two-year shelving in the States, the product went through a title change — to (raucous drum roll, please) "The Other Woman." It's a sad world when subtlety is trashed and trampled on the ground like that, but oddly enough, the new title condenses the story into a hard little nutshell.