Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-24 22:04:58

Fascinating Costume Drama Sheds Light On Obscure History

"The Other Boleyn Girl" is an entertaining historical drama that reminds many of us that the rakish, irresponsible Henry VII actually knew two Boleyn women - the known one - Anne, and the unknown one, Mary. The film tells a story how both sisters end up romancing the king, and how both are used by their father and the Duke of Norfolk to assure their family's status and fortune. Like the later film, "The Duchess," the film paints an extremely bleak portrait of a woman's life and choices - something that changed very recently in history.Eric Bana brings life and vitality to Henry, depicting a time before the king had become corpulent and lazy. Natalie Portman is duplicitous and still manages to conjure some sympathy as Anne, and Scarlett Johansson is noble and admirable as Mary.People will aruge over the factual nature of the film, but history should be learned from history research, not from motion pictures. This is a great story and one that can be enjoyed by many.

2012-05-24 21:28:54

Pretty silly, but OK for a wet afternoon

You really have to take this movie for what it is. It's just a big, dumb historical soap opera, with pretty locations, some Hollywood actresses, and a lot of nice frocks. I sat down on a wet afternoon and watched the DVD, and found it reasonably amusing. It is, of course, wildly historically inaccurate, but so was the Philippa Gregory book it was based on, so you can't be too hard on the film-makers for that. What it does lack are the book's strengths, which include tight plotting, good construction, and a clever manipulation of point-of-view throughout. When you read the novel, you see familiar events through the point of view of a naive woman (Mary Boleyn) who does not know how things are going to turn out; right up to the end, you half-believe, with Mary, that things are going to work out all right. This creates a dramatic tension that is wholly lacking in the film version. In the film, the director underlines from the start that things are going to end badly for Anne. Well, we all know she ends up decapitated, but it would be nice to have a bit of suspense along the way.The twist in Philippa Gregory's novel is that all the characters are absolutely as bad as their worst historical reputations. Her Anne is a guilty manipulative adulteress, a portrait which is unfair to the historical woman, if entertaining in a novel; here, the film-makers shy away from making her out to be as black as Gregory paints her (Henry VIII, on the other hand, emerges as a rapist, which for all his sins is one thing I don't think any historian has ever accused him of). Other characters are softened too, notably Lady Elizabeth Boleyn, the girls' mother, and the self-seeking George Boleyn, who here is just a nice boy whose parents force him to marry a girl he doesn't like. Nor is the court the sink of iniquity it seems in the book. It is extremely annoying that Mary's first husband, William Carey simply disappears (she was actually widowed, but we are never told so), while her romance with her second husband--a marriage that is social suicide, but which is ultimately her salvation--barely gets off the ground. There is no sense of love or even affection developing between them, which weakens the story considerably. But clearly the big relationship here is the love-hate between the sisters, and any romance other than the struggle for the king's affections is purely secondary.All in all, this is a pretty but forgettable film, with some nice costumes, a weak script, and some reasonably good acting from the female leads.

imxo 2012-05-18 22:18:07

Excruciatingly Dull Costume Drama. And did I say dull?

Bana, Johannson, Portman: what a waste of acting talent there is inthis dullfest called "The Other Anne Boleyn." The cinematography wasmuted, washed out, and dull. The music was, if anything, even duller.The dialog seemed straight out of a high school drama class.How dull was it? I fell asleep twice, only to be woken up by a poke onthe arm. Man, was it boring.As far as I am concerned, the only positive aspect of the movie comesfrom stimulating my interest in finding out more about the Boleyngirls. I should have stayed home and read the Wikipedia entries insteadof actually going to see a dramatization of their lives in this film.

snow white 2012-05-18 04:55:07

interesting detail

The title of this movie is "The Other Boleyn Girl " directed by JustinChadwick and was film in 2008. The main cast members include NataliePortman as Anne Boleyn, Scarlett Johansson as Mary Boleyn, and EricBana as Henry Tudor (King Henry VIII). This movie is a biography,drama,and history based on a true story about Anne Boleyn. this movie hasbeen rated PG-13. To visual this movie in a review is that this movieis all about sisters fighting for something they both love and tryingto fix their relationship after-wards.The interesting detail about this movie is that where Anne comes backfrom France and becomes a whole new person, thinking about greed andpower for herself all the time, made King Henry VIII divorced with thequeen.

Harry T. Yung 2012-05-13 17:30:56

Soap opera in glamorous style

I'm not sure how purists for historical facts view this movie, but theymay wish to be aware that the motivation for making it may well be tofind something to put two of the hottest young actresses together. Thescript handles the intriguing story at high places with astonishingsimplicity – king falling for the modest, innocent one (albeit amarried woman) while spurning the spirited, flirting other, who latermakes a comeback with a new strategy that worked – playing hard to get.Everybody from script writer, director to actors are playing safe,coming up with a movie that is mildly entertaining but with littleemotional depth. Eric Bana, trying to portray a somewhat differentHenry the VIII, comes up with a half-baked humanized monarch that isneither interesting nor convincing. The two Boleyn girls obedientlydeliver what they are supposed to deliver in their respectivecharacters, and not much more. I'm much more impressed instead with thetwo strong women. Always dependable Kristin Scott Thomas is awesome,and I particularly like the scene when she blandly answers the King whoasks for her daughter with a question, "Which one?" – and she said ittwice, staring at him, unblinking. Equally awesome is Ana Torrent asQueen Katherine, with icy dignity. It's also a pleasure watching JimSturgess playing the girls' brother while remembering him in "Acrossthe universe" as Jude (i.e. The Beatles' "Hey Jude").Coming out of the movie, all I'm left with is a mental exercise ofvisualizing how the movie would be like with the title roles switched.It could be fun and you can do it with at least a couple of dozen othermovies. The one that comes to mind immediately is "3:10 to Yuma" withRussell Crowe and Christian Bale.

2012-05-12 20:29:08

Absolutley fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This movie was great! I watched it 2 times in a row it was that good! Lots of twists and turns and very scandalous! I give it 5 stars and is a must see!

2012-05-09 09:04:05

I wanted to smash my face with a rock

Or better yet, smash the director's face. This movie was painful. Natatlie Portman was awful, the characters flat and lifeless, and even the movie's title makes me want to drift off to sleep. There is no reason to see this movie. Avoid it like a sledgehammer to the shins.

2012-05-09 01:59:49

If You Liked the Book...

Then you should like the movie. It does a pretty good job of following the book, which after all is historical FICTION. People often fail to realize that when they are watching a movie they should be watching for entertainment-for factual accounts, watch a documentary. Lord knows that there are plenty out there. I think all the characters were cast well, especially Norfolk. My only historical nitpicks are that: 1. Mary was the oldest (we think, for the most part) 2. Wolsey should have been in there and 3. They make it seem like he hated her from the moment he married her...even before. They could have at least waited until the first miscarriage. Lighten up, history buffs.Just one American's Opinion

2012-05-05 08:04:37

Slow, Boring & Trite.....

I am glad that I didn't buy this movie and only saw it on dvd rental. The acting and costuming were great, but the story was boring & slow to watch if not predictable. We all know that Anne Boleyn was going to marry Henry VIII and be killed in the end by her own hubby. At least the parts in between could have been a tad more interesting!

akunau 2012-05-04 22:38:03

Dumbed down history and bad acting

It was a real chore to endure 2 hours of this weak film. The historicalinaccuracies aside, of which there are more than will fit on this page,the acting was awful, and both actresses' English accents werelaughable. Why can't English actresses be cast in English roles? It's adifficult accent to master especially for American actors, similarlyhard for English actors to get down an American accent or specificdialect. Bottom line not worth the $4 rental fee, and definitely doesnot do these real people of history any justice.There are much better films about the Tudors already made. Recommendedwould be "Anne of the Thousand Days" and "Elizabeth" and "Elizabeth:The Golden Age".

all_that_jazz85 2012-05-02 08:38:58

Hits me really hard

I've just read so many rubbish reviews on this movie but what i sawreally hit me hard. Maybe this is due to my close relationship with mysister and the thought of having rivalries forced upon us like theBoleyn girls makes me so sad. I thought Scarlett and Natalie werewonderful in their roles, particularly Natalie in her descent from theKings favour, her increasing panic and insecurity was chilling. Thescene between Anne and her brother was heartbreaking, that he wouldrisk everything to try and help her and her utter desperation to pleasethe king. George just looked so terrified, it made me so angry that heended up being executed, so completely unfair! I have also read rubbishabout the dialogue being farcical but if you actually took a moment tounderstand the characters you'd see that of course Anne exclaimingshe'd use "her thighs" to stay on the horse was meant to be comedic!Her blatant flirtatious comments were meant to be in good humour, so tothose people i say chill out and stop taking things so seriously!Overall this film must have been great because it has been on my mindall day and it actually sparked emotions in me, it made me angry andsad, sympathetic and yet also it made me smile!

2012-05-01 17:44:33

Good movie

This movie is beautiful and heart-breaking to watch. It's too bad it doesn't stay truer to history, but I guess that's the way Hollywood is.

2012-04-30 11:36:39

Enjoyable if not accurate

Nowadays it seems that the Tudors have been popular for retellings in modern culture (the Elizabeth movies with Cate Blanchett, the TV series 'The Tudors', etc) but unfortunately, this has given people the wrong ideas about the family. I love the costumes for this movie and Natalie Portman does a nice job as Anne Boleyn, but the story itself is not accurate. I did enjoy this film and some of the dialogue and scenes were great, but in my mind, I could not help but pick at the historical inaccuracies which plague so many historical films.

blake102479 2012-04-29 14:35:42

Completely Different then the Book

The book and the movie should never have been connected. The onlythings they have in common are the title and the names of thecharacters. If you've read the book you are going to be verydisappointed and if you read the book after watching the movie you willbe amazed by how the two are completely different. They tried to fittoo much history in to, too small amount of time. Several key elementsare left out, characters are portrayed in a completely different lightfrom the book. I believe that even some of the names of places wereincorrect. The acting was not that great either, but then again anactor can only do so much with what they are given. The only good thingthat I can say about the movie is that the costumes were beautiful aswere the sets.

kosmasp 2012-04-26 23:08:26

Period

Every other (and mostly good) periodic drama, tries and putscontemporary issues in it's theme (or at least the story). This isn'tany different, showing us gender issues (and family/royalty problems aswell). And putting Scarlett J. and Natalie P. in the movie, one canunderstand Eric B. (or his characters) dilemma ... But let's not getinto the story, the question is, is this movie, worth your time? Ithink it is.Not only for those who like there costume/period drama (they'll watchthe movie, regardless of what I or anybody else is gonna write), butalso for newbies and people who like dramas. This movie is very wellacted, could be a bit tighter on the pacing part, but all in all, itwas a satisfying experience/movie.

drew23 2012-04-26 20:59:20

Stick to the still superior show "The Tudors."

The acting is pretty good, Natalie Portman stands out as usual. She isa naturally gifted actress and has only gotten better since her debutin "The Professional." My main complaint and although this is a movieit takes way too much liberty as far as the falsehood of the stories."The Tudors" on Showtime though is guilty of the same, but this justwas too far-fetched an actually absurd in places. It just goes to showthat time and time again that people love their soap opera stories andfind history to be too boring on it's own. I think that is a pity andbelieve that we don't actually need to have fake stories to makehistory interesting. If you actually want to learn anything don'tbother watching this. I give credit to the actors doing the best theycould with this pretty mediocre at best script. Again watch "TheTudors" for a little bit better history & the same excellent productionvalues.

gary-444 2012-04-25 00:06:58

Powerful Costume Drama

The story of the six wives of Henry the Eigth is a staple of Britishhistory. Director Justin Chaswick , who cut his teeth on period dramawith a TV production of "Bleak House", makes an excellent job ofconverting Phillipa Gregory's novel, in which she picks out the Boleyngirls contribution, onto the Big screen. Much of the credit for thisgoes to Peter Morgan whose fine screenplay confirms his status of oneof the best writers of screen dialogue around at the moment.Whilsthistorically inaccurate in some key respects, the context is enough toprovide a convincing and rewarding "faction".Two hours of intrigue, treachery, plotting and heartbreak focus on theefforts of the Boleyn family to do a spot of social climbing courtesyof their daughters Anne and Mary. Natalie Portman as the former, leavesScarlett Johansson as the latter somewhat in her wake in a toweringperformance of froideur and ambition. Eric Bana as King Henry isabsolutely convincing is his arrogant amorality, yet still allows theside of him which can be manipulated by women to shine through.Lavish, whilst falling short of being a full blown costume drama, thestory depends upon plot , rather than action, and succeedstriumphantly. The below par CGI recreations of Medieval Cityscapes aremore than compensated for by a rip roaring pace to a cleverly pacedtale. My only criticism is that the cerebral battle between Henry andhis wife Catherine, and the visceral passion of his relationships withAnne and Mary are somewhat under drawn, presumably to give it as widean audience as possible with a 12A rating.However the ingredients of a King, mistresses, a scheming Court andrazor sharp dialogue deliver an impressive result, which I canrecommend to all.

2012-04-24 09:55:37

The Other Boleyn Girl

This review is from: The Other Boleyn Girl (DVD) This was a wonderful film. Very true, historically. Well acted. Authentic costumes. Good character development. Well done!

2012-04-23 07:46:07

Very entertaining

I won't comment on historical inaccuracies here since I am not that familiar with them, especially in regard to Henry and the Boleyn family. This film is very entertaining to watch and it is visually pleasing, with the period costumes, castles, and other trappings of the century represented. Portman, Johannsen and Bana do good solid work as the main characters in the royal intrigues. The film also gives a good example of the low status of women at that time and how they were expected to produce male heirs or else fall into disgrace and be abandoned by their domineering husbands. There was a tremendous amount of pressure placed on young women not only in that regard but also re: their entire family's position and future. Girls were married off not to men they loved, necessarily, but to men who could provide wealth and reputation or even repair broken relationships or warring empires. The ending was spot-on in showing that Henry's desire for a son and his despair at not having one should not have been such a worry for him, considering that he and Anne produced Queen Elizabeth I, who ruled England for decades.

MARIO GAUCI 2012-04-22 13:39:04

THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL (Justin Chadwick, 2008) ***

Having studied European History in Secondary School, I've always beenfascinated by the reign of England's King Henry VIII – a period lessnoted for chivalrous deeds than bed-hopping antics, as he married noless than six times in order to secure a male heir to the throne (evenif this caused a rift between the country and the Roman Catholic Churchwhich endures to this very day). Unsurprisingly, all of this has madehim ideal film material – personally, I've watched THE PRIVATE LIFE OFHENRY VIII (1933), THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER (1937), THE SWORD AND THEROSE (1953), YOUNG BESS (1953), A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (both 1966big-screen and 1988 TV versions), ANNE OF A THOUSAND DAYS (1969) and,of course, CARRY ON HENRY (1971); I recently acquired HENRY VIII ANDHIS SIX WIVES (1972), which was adapted from a much longer TV series,but have yet to check it out.This, then, gives a 'novel' twist to the most turbulent period inHenry's life and reign – as we discover that, before making Anne Boleynhis Queen (whose offspring was Elizabeth I), he had been involved withher younger sister (who had actually borne him a son)!; incidentally,these events – based on a novel by Philippa Gregory – had already beenadapted for the small screen in 2003…but someone thought that thislittle-known romance was intriguing enough to make it into a featurefilm. As it stands, THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL is a sumptuous-lookingproduction – despite being mostly restricted to interiors, and wherethe color scheme is actually quite subtle; for this reason, muchdepends on the acting – and the three leads (Natalie Portman as Anne,Scarlett Johannson as the titular figure and Eric Bana as Henry) areall given the opportunity to shine, thus overcoming their basicyouthfulness for the roles. Two other notables in the cast are KristinScott-Thomas as the two Boleyn sisters' mother and Ana Torrent (stillbest-known for playing the little girl in THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE[1973]) as the barren and jealous Queen Katharine.Even so, the plot (which, reportedly, doesn't play fair with history)defies credibility at times and tends too often towards melodrama. Forone thing, Henry is depicted as something of a pawn in the machinationsof an over-ambitious family; he's also gullible (it's Anne who pusheshim into breaking with Rome!) and, least convincingly of all, is thefact that everything seems to happen simply because she refuses tosleep with the King before he makes her Queen (which then leads to apotentially campy scene in which Henry rapes Anne)! The less said,then, of the Queen's attempt to entice her fey brother intoimpregnating her (soon after she loses Henry's second child) – and howthis is what ultimately led to Anne's execution! – the better;incidentally, the film rather rushes through her tenure as sovereign(despite the title, she's the real protagonist) – while the pivotalcharacter of Sir Thomas More (the subject of A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS)doesn't figure at all in Church-rupture affair! That said, suchnarrative shortcomings don't really impinge on one's enjoyment of thefilm – hence the respectable rating accorded it.At the end of the day, THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL won't dispel memories ofthe better cinematic versions of Henry VIII's reign and (some of his)loves – but it's nonetheless valuable as much for shedding light on anepisode which had previously been all but overlooked as for itsatypically frank detail of life at court.