Natalie Portman's Secret Film

Natalie Portman's next film comes out in theaters—well, 'theater,' singular, in New York. Portman has two movies in wide-release right now, one arty and one tarty—she's a major movie star. How did her movie end up getting dumped?

It's her celebrity, in fact, that's the reason it's even gotten this far—without the current Portmania, the film might have gone direct-to-video, if history is guide (often, movies emerge from the buying frenzies at festivals and end up going direct-to-video). The Other Woman was filmed years ago, and played in September 2009 at the Toronto Film Festival. At the time known as Love and Other Impossible Pursuits (a bit too similar to the 2010 release Love and Other Drugs, no?) the film received rave reviews at Toronto (A. O. Scott isn't raving, but loves the lead performance). This, perhaps, would have been Portman's Oscar!

Only those who venture to the IFC Center (or order the movie On Demand, where it's been available for a month) will be able to say for sure, but there's no reason to believe that a dearth of quality held back the film (The Men Who Stare at Goats and Youth in Revolt, among other bombs, saw release shortly after their runs at Toronto in 2009). In fact, Portman's performance, even now, is getting praise! But recall that, up until this very moment, Portman has not been bankable.

Portman toplining a movie would have been a difficult sell in 2009—she'd done Star Wars, but a turnip could have sold that franchise. In 2009, Portman also made New York, I Love You (which saw a small release), and Hesher (which is scheduled for April of this year): she was an indie actress, not one who sold tickets. She'd tried the marketplace: Portman was coming off The Other Boleyn Girl and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, neither successes. The producers of The Other Woman weren't being foolish by waiting years to release their film—they were helping their own cause by waiting for Portman's star to rise. They were lucky hers did, and she's lucky this film's performance likely won't affect her fortunes either way. (At least, not as much as the curse of the Oscar will!)

ddaddario@observer.com :: @DPD_