* * * ½

(Revenge and empowerment for women-comedy)

We’ve seen lots of revenge movies, but this comedy is different, with three women joining forces to bring revenge down hard on a man who has duped them all.

Cameron Diaz stars as Carly, a New York City lawyer who has been dating the handsome and debonair Mark (Nikola Coster-Waldau) for a couple of months, feeling that he is “the one.” Showing up at his doorstep, he is greeted by his wife, Kate (Leslie Mann), and both are devastated. Kate is a bit of a spaceshot, and you can wonder how she ever matched up with Mark.

After a period of resentment, Kate and Carly team up to get their revenge. Carly is the strong one, slowly empowering Kate to stand up to Mark. Along the way there are lots of funny lines and scenes, plus a few dumb ones. Mann is a good comic actress and Diaz plays off of her beautifully.

Things get a bit crazier when the new friends discover a third woman, Amber (Kate Upton), a buxom young blonde who doesn’t have a clue about Mark. The three of them join forces and, well, you can see what’s coming. It all begins with subtle revenge and grows into a humongous scheme to play the big revenge card.

Singer Nikki Minaj, a weirdo in her own right, plays Diaz’s weirdo secretary. Don Johnson plays her father. And then there’s this giant Great Dane who provides a few laughs.

“The Other Woman” is not Oscar material, but it is unique enough and funny enough to provide nearly two hours of fun and games. We won’t use the term “chick flick”, but we will say that some women (and men) will enjoy the antics that result in good old-fashioned revenge.

Rated PG-13, with some sex and profanity.