Other Boleyn Girl, The Review

"Other Boleyn Girl, The" reviews

Movie

Other Boleyn Girl, The

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-05-08 21:43:23

Rating

2/5

Provider

CinemaSource

Review

One of the most pivotal and provocative periods in English history is given the soap-opera treatment in this handsome but hollow drama.

Story

Adapted from Philippa Gregory's novel by no less than Oscar-nominee Peter Morgan (The Queen), this is a speculative dramatization of the relationship between sisters Anne (Natalie Portman) and Mary Boleyn (Scarlett Johansson), each of whom shared a bed at one time or another with no less a monarch than Henry VIII (Eric Bana). History has shown that Anne's relationship with the King would have a mammoth, long-lasting impact on the Throne and on the Church of England. However, this film is more concerned with the intimate details of the sister's relationship with each other and with Henry, than with any historical resonance. This serves only to make a melodrama out of material with far greater potential. Few of these characters ever seem to perceive, or even care about, the consequences of their actions--so it's not terribly easy to empathize with them, despite the best efforts of Johansson and Portman to imbue their roles with emotional depth.

Acting

Those expecting fireworks between onscreen siblings Portman and Johansson will find their dramatic scenes together more incongruous than incendiary. Neither is particularly bad, although they are among the more unlikely screen siblings in recent memory, and both are comfortable in period surroundings, but there's the unmistakable whiff of a missed opportunity in the air--that the hoped-for chemistry between them isn't coming together. Although Bana is one of the handsomer screen Henrys, he's portrayed as little more than a bed-hopping hunk. He may exchange smoldering glances with Portman and/or Johansson, but there's a distinct lack of passion (on several levels) to these proceedings. David Morrissey sneers throughout as the manipulative Duke of Norfolk, who essentially gets everybody into this mess in the first place. As the girls' father, Sir Thomas Boleyn, Mark Rylance sports an ill-fitting beard and a befuddled expression throughout, as he basically pimps his daughters out, while Kristin Scott Thomas suffers nobly as Lady Elizabeth Boleyn, who knew all along that this would end up badly--but whose warnings (naturally) went unheeded.

Direction

Most of Justin Chadwick's previous work has been in television, and it shows. The Other Boleyn Girl is heavy on the talk and light on the action. This story might have been better, and more persuasively, told as a TV mini-series--as fans of the Showtime series The Tudors, which covers some of the same dramatic territory, might well attest. This story undoubtedly made for a juicy novel but comes up dry on the big screen. The Other Boleyn Girl is stately and opulent, but the fires of the story's passion have been dampened by soap suds. By the time the ax is ready to fall--and upon whose neck you should already know--the entire affair, such as it is (and they are) feels anti-climactic. The viewer never really gets a sense of the scope of this story, as if the filmmakers simply presumed the audience know the outcome from the beginning and felt no need to delve any further into the historical ramifications. To have combined the two approaches would have made for a much more well-rounded and satisfying film.

Bottom Line

Hollywood.com rated this film 2 stars.

Copyright © CinemaSource 2008.

Movie

The Other Boleyn Girl

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-02-25 08:59:33

Provider

MRIB

Review

The Other Boleyn Girl delves into the events surrounding King Henry VIII's second wife that they never taught us in school.

The sexual power games played between royals and aspiring families are not appropriate for the history classroom, and in any case this story - based on the best selling novel by Philippa Gregory - is highly fictionalised.

But when it's this gripping and sexy who cares? The Other Boleyn Girl is a thoroughly enjoyable historical romp with a high sumptuous fabrics and impressive sets count and plenty of witty repartee.

Scripted by Peter Morgan (The Queen) it tells of how ambitious Sir Thomas Boleyn - advised by his brother-in-law, the Duke of Norfolk (David Morrissey),who has noticed that Henry VIII’s current wife, Catherine of Aragon (Ana Torrent), has failed to produce a male heir - engineers things so one of his daughters can become the King's mistress.

Anne (Natalie Portman) is the scheming, younger of the two and Mary (Scarlett Johansson), the innocent elder one whose beleaguered husband reluctantly goes along with the plan.

After a highly charged bedroom scene it is Mary who steals the King's heart and a thoroughly hacked off Anne elopes to France with a relative nobody (Oliver Coleman). When she returns from exile she teases, taunts and flirts outrageously with Henry until he succumbs, making her sister, the other Boleyn girl.

Johansson gives more emotional intensity to her role than Portman whose wobbly British accent becomes distracting at times. Eric Bana is smouldering as King Henry and Kristin Scott Thomas - who plays the voice of reason against Sir Thomas is captivating, as always.

Overall this is a wonderfully trashy romp which will have you gripped, but probably won't pick up the awards it perhaps hoped for.

Copyright © MRIB 2008.