AN unfortunate movie all the way around, “The Other Men” features Liam Neeson as a widower stalking his late wife’s lover, a role he shot a couple of years before the death of his real-life wife, Natasha Richardson.

That’s not the only reason this unintentionally ghoulish thriller should have been buried directly on DVD.

It’s a slick, empty affair, sluggishly directed by the normally reliable Richard Eyre (“Notes on a Scandal”).

It rarely rises to a level of credibility despite yeoman efforts by Neeson, Antonio Banderas and the briefly seen Laura Linney.

Linney is a shoe designer who is first seen on holiday at Lake Como with Banderas’ Latin lover.

Through a tortured series of needlessly intricate fast-forwards and flashbacks, we see Neeson’s cuckolded husband, a computer software designer, react with jealousy when he discovers e-mails and photos from Banderas following his wife’s death.

Neeson uses his expertise to track Banderas to his hometown of Milan, where Neeson befriends his absurdly oblivious prey — little suspecting that Banderas has a surprise or two of his own.

For some reason — perhaps known only to Bernhard Schlink (“The Reader”), on whose story the film is based — Neeson’s disaffected daughter also turns up in Milan to try to talk him out of his project.

“The Other Man,” nicely photographed on beautiful locations, wastes a fine cast.