Review of The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) by Eric F — 30 Oct 2013

Just based off of the poster, "The Other Boleyn Girl" looks like a tasty, movie version of steamy medieval drama "The Tudors", considering it features the same characters. But alas, "The Other Boleyn Girl" isn't very steamy nor is it very entertaining. While the cast does their best (some performances are truly very good) and you can tell that the intent was to make a melodramatic bit of historical fiction, "The Other Boleyn Girl" is a little too lightweight for its own good.

The two Boleyn Girls are Anne (Natalie Portman) and Mary (Scarlett Johansson), who are both beautiful, charming, and have a bit of an agenda: they both are hoping to win the affections of King Henry VIII (Eric Bana), and in return, become his mistress and later, his wife. The two sisters, close in childhood, are ripped apart by jealousy and hatred as they "compete". But for one of them, the future is very ominous.

There's something about historical dramas that I love. Is it the costumes? The fancy way the characters talk? The culture shock? I don't know, but "The Other Boleyn Girl" doesn't truly have qualities that stand out. It's basically a dime-a-dozen, complete with a feeling of TV-movie-ism and strange plotting that doesn't really work when it comes to a two hour film.

The soap opera between Anne and Mary should be a bit more delicious, but instead, it's grating. Anne constantly throws around cutting remarks, letting her ambitions get in the way of her morals, and Mary is always seemingly oblivious to the world around her. Portman captures Anne's cattiness with a certain fascination, and Johansson, who looks wonderfully sensual sans makeup, embodies Mary's naïve attitude.

But it does seem rather odd that two American actresses are playing famous British women. That's where the film loses a bit of its believability. It's already pretty obvious that everything here is completely dramatized and most likely not very true, and that normally isn't a problem. But when the majority of the actors aren't British and most of the story feels more soapy than interesting, it gives one the feeling that it's just a multi-million dollar dress up extravaganza.

There isn't too much style involved: while the costumes are certainly impressive, the camera work is largely flat, and the editing is too self-conscious. Justin Chadwick isn't the best choice of director here, as he doesn't seem to have a complete idea of the lavish lifestyle of the characters within the film. A director like Cary Fukunaga, who recently directed an adaptation of "Jane Eyre" would be much more interesting, considering he has a keen eye for detail and atmosphere; even Sofia Coppola, who polarized critics with her bubbly, '80s-rock laden "Marie Antoinette", could make something very hip and interesting out of the film.

It's too bad that "The Other Boleyn Girl" isn't as good as it wants to be, because it has a heck of a lot of potential. There are moments that shine, but those moments are limited.