Natalie Portman!, Scarlett Johansson!

"The umpteenth film incarnation of Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn, The Other Boleyn Girl races through the events at the Tudor court like a triple-time miniseries." - Bill Weber

Dissapointing considering it had a pretty talented cast. Perhaps a little more Benedict Cumberbatch would have helped.

the story is pereft but movie is terrible

Goodish & interesting, but with a number of flaws; (i) Eric the Banana just doesn't have the charisma or screen presence for this role (contrast with Robert Shaw's Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons) (ii) The script was almost 99% committed to plot development which leaves little room for character development (iii) The voyeuristic cinematography was interesting to start with but there is only so much you can do with this before it gets tedious. Natalie and Scarlett are gorgeous though!

This is basically a retelling of Henry VIII's Great Matter through a feminist historical lens. I love this period of history, but the film didn't click like it could have. Visually the movie is fantastic, but the sisterly conflict felt kind of predictable. The authour chose to walk some sort of bizarre middle ground regarding the incest allegations against Anne Boleyn, but that's another matter. I can mildly recommend The Other Boleyn Girl if you're like me and gobble up historical films.

I get the feeling the screenwriters read a two-paragraph biography of Anne Boleyn and then tried to make a two hour film out of it. The many betrayals and seductions are all ticked off rather listlessly and even the schism with the Catholic Church (which apparently happened because Henry VIII was a horny dude) doesn't feel like a major event. It doesn't even work on a soap opera level: there is no passion and, for all the sexual content, no eroticism but only swelling violins and soft focus.