The Other Boleyn Girl Review

Published by Jeff Leins on: March 7th, 2008

The Other Boleyn Girl is Hollywood’s latest period piece in the quest to complete the puzzle that is England’s royal family tree.

It contains all the usual elements of a costume drama; the flowing dresses, the lavish settings, the majestic music, the mighty steeds, and the growling monarch. But once assembled, the whole resembles its upright, proper characters… reserved and rarely passionate.

The film plays like a well-acted history lesson, surging through fifteen years of British history during the reign of King Henry VIII. Sometimes not fast enough, however, spanning two hours of flashy clothing design without much substance in between.

The story is more about the relationship between the two sisters, Mary (Scarlett Johansson) and Anne (Natalie Portman), than about their respective courtships by the king himself (Eric Bana). Amidst a corrupt family of greedy men scrambling for status, the two women are forced into the arms of a frustrated king. After Queen Catherine is unable to produce an heir to the throne, Henry seeks out a mistress, selecting the married Mary rather than Anne, who was groomed for the position.

A rift of resentment transforms Anne and she casts aside her proper upbringing for a more bold, rebellious demeanor. It’s in this way that the movie almost plays as a well-dressed “girl power” movie. She won’t acquiesce to the tradition of arranged marriage or the accepted guidelines of the highest class, resulting in her banishment. I found it amusing that being sent to France was the punishment.

Anne returns from exile to orchestrate the dismal of Mary’s bastard son as a true heir and the downfall of the Queen. Unlike how history probably played itself out, the film shows Anne as a clever mastermind of the historic divorce and split from the Catholic Church as Catherine is stripped of her crown. Henry is consumed by horny arrogance and portrayed as a weak-minded fool, easily manipulated by Anne in a pompous game of “hard to get.”

In interviews recently, the two actresses lamented about the amount of decent roles available for women in Hollywood. Which is probably why they chose to both star in this film. Within the first ten minutes one man admits that Mary is “anything but simple and uncomplicated.” Simple AND uncomplicated, huh? Great writing.

Anne is an equally juicy part for Portman to show her range as a respected member of the A-list. She is the queen of being coy and it shows here, but she also shows her talent during her waning grasp on power.

The film isn’t very visually impressive, aside from the constant wardrobe changes. Director Justin Chadwick takes a potentially great story and zooms through the steamy moments of true emotion. But he also somehow manages to fly right through the historic moments too, never stopping to embrace any potential drama buried in the facts. If you can’t make a beheading interesting, you’re dead to me too.

The Other Boleyn Girl hovers somewhere in between being a trashy soap opera storyline and a high-brow melodrama, instead settling for neither. What results is a lifeless “who laid with who” story that plods through the pages of history and wastes the talents of the ensemble.

The actors, not given much to work with, make their best of the situation and deliver some solid performances. There’s nothing memorable about them, but they’re at least worthy of a sophisticated clap of appreciation. The cast was the only thing holding my attention in an otherwise ho hum costume drama.

3 out of 5.