Based on the best-selling novel, The Other Boleyn Girl is a captivating tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, and Eric Bana. Two sisters, Anne (Portman) and Mary (Johansson), are driven by their ambitious family to seduce the king of England (Bana) in order to advance their position in court. What starts as an opportunity for the girls to increase their family fortune becomes a deadly rivalry to capture the heart of a king to stay alive.
A tale of two sisters competing for the same king, The Other Boleyn Girl uses historical facts as window dressing for this work of fiction that is entertaining, if not wholly believable. Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman) is the doe-eyed vixen ordered by her power-hungry uncle to bewitch King Henry VIII (Eric Bana). Her shy sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson) has always been in Anne's shadow; Anne is prettier, more accomplished, and desired by many men. So when the King picks Mary--the "other Boleyn girl"--as his mistress, Anne turns on her sister and schemes to become not only the King's consort, but his new queen. With a pair of American actresses in the lead roles and an Aussie portraying their hunky object of desire, the English accents are all over the place in this period piece with a modern feel. Though the Boleyn girls' mother points out that her "daughters are being traded like cattle for the advancement of men," it is Anne who ultimately throws her slight weight around to bully Henry into doing her bidding. When he begs her to give herself to him, Anne--wearing a Carrie Bradshaw-esque "B" pendant on her neck--counters, "Make me your Queen." Is the audience really supposed to believe that Henry the VIII--the most powerful man in the land--would divorce Catherine of Aragon, separate from the Catholic church, and put England in upheaval simply because Anne refused to sleep with him until he jumped through all her hoops? "I have torn this country apart for you," he hisses at her before finally getting his way. Based on Philippa Gregory's bestselling novel of the same name, The Other Boleyn Girl features an attractive cast and a familiar plot with some icky twists. Kieran McGuigan's cinematography is breathtaking and is as crucial to setting the film's tone as the dialogue. Actually, it fares better: Lines such as "Well? Did he have you?!" sound almost comical. But the sweeping shots of Henry's kingdom and the carefully framed close-ups of Portman and Johansson are breathtaking in their beauty and say what words simply cannot. --Jae-Ha Kim
Get to Know the Cast of The Other Boleyn Girl (click on images to see more films from each actor)
Natalie Portman (Anne Boleyn)
Scarlett Johansson (Mary Boleyn)
Eric Bana (Henry Tudor)
Jim Sturgess (George Boleyn)
Kristin Scott Thomas (Lady Elizabeth Boleyn)
Beyond The Other Boleyn Girl
Paperback Book
On Blu-ray
The Soundtrack
Stills from The Other Boleyn Girl (click for larger image)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
Moving all the way to the end.:
I am not big on these type of movies, but I have to say this one moved me.
Appalling mediocrity:
After watching for a couple of weeks, at the rate of one episode per night, Michael Hirst's TV series «The Tudors" The Tudors - The Complete First SeasonThe Tudors - Season 2, I was appalled by the bad acting, the awful dialogue and the general lack of artistry of this movie. Only the lighting of some interiors, deftly imitated from Vermeer, and a few pretty --yet trite-- open air scenes earns it a second star with me. Otherwise, it can serve only as a foil against which one can better appreciate... more info
Reader's Digest had a hand in this?:
I recently watched this movie, and I have mixed feeling about it. While it is true that historical accuracy is stretched and the dialogue isn't exactly period, I enjoyed the performance given by the actors chosen for the role, and much of the movie on its own account. However, the movie generally is choppy, not unlike a Reader's Digest version of something longer...I am left with the notion that this DVD is actually meant for Prime Time Television, edited for time allotted between commercials, and so left... more info
The Other Boleyn Girl:
This was a wonderful film. Very true, historically. Well acted. Authentic costumes. Good character development. Well done!
