Review of The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) by Chads. — 01 Mar 2008

Mary Boelyn(Scarlett Johansson) is the other Boelyn girl; as in the other Boelyn girl deserves to...not Anne(Natalie Portman). The ornamental "B" that Anne wears stands for her namesake, obviously; or "bitch", because she schemes with belligerence, but on an intertextual level, Anne's alphabetical bling-bling makes reference to the "A" that Hester Prynne is burdened with in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlett Letter".

In the final scene, when the "B" reappears after its retirement during Anne's reign as queen, we realize that Mary's indiscretion is the greater offense. Anne might be a "whore"(Katherine of Aragon said it; not me), but Mary is Hester Prynne.

Don't let Mary's woe-is-me countenance fool you; in her own passive-aggressive manner, she matches her sister blow-for-blow, every step of the way, as both sisters try to bed King "I'm-too-sexy-for-this-court" Henry(Eric Bana plays the randy Tudor like he's Hugh Hefner with a sceptre).

Both sisters learn too late, to their misfortune, that the court of England is a man's world. Since "The Other Boelyn Girl" presents a larger-than-life set of circumstances and payoffs, they should've let Johansson have some overheated fun, too, and allowed her to go vis-a-vis with Anne more honestly.

I think Mary is coy. Her simple way is a country girl act. Substitute Mary's tears with a smile the last time she sees Anne would've made "The Other Boelyn Girl" a guilty pleasure.