I’ve wanted to see The Other Boleyn Girl ever since it came out at the end of February, but I didn’t get a chance to do so until yesterday when I happened to be running errands near the cheap/second-run theater. I was looking forward to the film — even though it generated mostly mixed reviews and lukewarm responses from critics — because it boasts of some pretty decent star power in Eric Bana, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, and Kristin Scott Thomas. Plus, I liked the fact that it would at least be based partly on true events, as historical fiction is quickly becoming a favorite genre of mine.
That’s why I can’t help but think most of the critics were off base in their reviews. Sure, this wasn’t a great film, but it managed to be intriguing, tense, and emotional, plus it held my interest throughout, so I ended up liking it quite a bit.
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): The film opens late in the reign of King Henry VIII of England (played by Bana), who is fretting over his wife Katherine of Aragon’s inability to produce a male heir to the throne. As Catherine is at the end of her childbearing years, Henry starts looking around at potential mistresses, and visits the family of trusted adviser Thomas Howard (David Morrissey) for this purpose.
Howard, aka the Duke of Norfolk, schemes to hook his niece Anne Boleyn (Portman) up with Henry. If Anne can worm her way into court as a royal consort, the family’s fortunes would be made. Anne, who is portrayed as the ultimate schemer, is completely on board with the project, while younger sister Mary (Johansson), herself recently married, and mother Lady Elizabeth (Thomas) both think the plan is disgusting.
When the king arrives, he is quite taken with Anne’s looks, but the girl falls out of favor when she proves to be reckless on a hunt, causing Henry to become injured. Mary nurses Henry back to health, and the king falls for her instead. They sleep together, as Anne is banished to France.
Several months later, Anne returns to the English court a much changed woman. She is far more sophisticated, confident, and experienced since after her stay in Paris, and she sets about laying a trap to snare Henry. Meanwhile, Mary is pregnant and confined to bed, which gives Anne all the more freedom and leeway to work on the king.
The rest of the film then deals with the results of Anne’s machinations, as she eventually succeeds in bedding — and marrying — Henry Tudor. These consequences include the removal of Katherine of Aragon as Queen, England’s break from the Roman Catholic Church, Anne’s trial and beheading on counts of treason, adultery, and incest, and the birth of a daughter who would grow up to rule over the land for 45 years as Queen Elizabeth I.
My Reaction: As I said above, I’m not quite sure why most critics came out against The Other Boleyn Girl. Perhaps it has something to do with historical accuracy, since that seems to be the most talked about complaint out there. Well, this film wasn’t marketed as a biopic, was it? I mean, I wouldn’t go and recommend that kids watch this instead of reading their European history books, but come on — it wasn’t that bad!
I particularly enjoyed the performances in this film, as all the top stars were equal to the task and pulled their own weight. Johansson was sufficiently subtle and understated as Mary; Bana was excellent as the now-friendly, now-fierce Henry VIII; and Portman was superb as Anne, bringing just the right amount of humanity to a character that otherwise had very few redeeming qualities.
I felt that the whole storyline about the jealousy between sisters was done rather well. It was easy to believe that a woman like Anne would positively seethe at being cast aside in favor of Mary, and afterward would make conquering Henry her ultimate goal. Likewise, the way Mary was portrayed by Johansson, it was easy to believe that she’s forgive her sister for everything, and even petition the king to spare Anne’s life in the end.
The final scenes were pretty emotional, which means that the actors involved succeeded in making me care about their characters. I thought Anne’s ascent to the gallows was poignant: at first, she was brave and unflinching because she believed that she would be shown leniency. But once she realized that the death sentence would be carried out, she gave in to her fears — something that I think is far more realistic than all the movie characters who march to their deaths without batting an eye.
Overall, I ended up enjoying The Other Boleyn Girl far more than I thought I would. As long as you’re not the type of person to be put off by the historical inaccuracies or liberties that the filmmakers take with actual events, then you should find this movie to be an entertaining diversion. I give it 7.0 stars out of 10.
Since only two of my regular TV shows have started airing new episodes again, I still have plenty of time to catch up with my DVD viewing. That’s why I recently went through a marathon of O.C. episodes to finish out the third season. Yes, I’ve now seen all 25 eps from S3 and am ready to comment on a few things that stood out for me.