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The Other Boleyn Girl

Buzz says:   MPAA Rating: PG-13
Current Showtimes: No showtimes available

Despite its title, which suggests a new romantic footnote of the historic attempts of King Henry VIII to produce a male heir, director Justin Chadwick’s The Other Boleyn Girl is nothing more than a bawdy soap opera of royal intrigue.

With lackluster lead performances, dark, almost sepia toned cinematography and clichéd dialogue, Chadwick and screenwriter Peter Morgan chronicle the troubled years of the English monarch as the conniving, hierarchy climbing Sir Thomas Boleyn plans to gain a respectful position in the royal court by having his two daughters vie for the affection of Henry.

Almost everyone who ever took a course in English history will recognize the name Anne Boleyn, the attractive young maiden who persuaded King Henry to divorce his wife Queen Catherine which caused his excommunication and lead to the beginning of the Church of England. Based on the historical novel by Philippa Gregory, this film suggests that Anne’s older sister, Mary, first caught the monarch’s eye, but Anne’s jealousy and lust for power persuaded the king to accept her plans for the future of the kingdom.

Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson (both non-Brits), who play the rival sisters Anne and Mary respectively, never provide much emotional gusto to their roles and struggle to maintain believably consistent English accents. Eric Bana’s Henry is one of the most dull and indecisively weak interpretations of an influential grand monarch. Unlike the lush visual style of recent films praising the reign of England’s great leaders like Elizabeth: The Golden Age, this film seems more realistically dark and cold, reflecting the greed and selfishness of the royals and those who wished for greater status in the court.