Mikey At The Movies!: SHORT REVIEW: The Other Boleyn Girl

Saturday, August 9, 2008

SHORT REVIEW: The Other Boleyn Girl

The Other Boleyn Girl

Rated PG-13

Running time: 1 hr 55 mins

Cast:

Natalie Portman
Scarlett Johansson
Eric Bana

Critical consensus:

**1/2 out of *****

Matt's Take:

Has Not Viewed

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

**1/2 out of *****

The premise:

Two sisters contend for the affection of King Henry VIII.

MY REVIEW

This is a movie I was not expecting to be what it was. I have no clue why I was expecting some sort of historically altered fairy tale full of happiness. I will be the first to admit, I hate history, and I know nothing about the Kings of England and all that happened so far on the side of the world. I do know for a fact that this film is not historically accurate (I read message boards); the characters are real, some events are true, but a lot of it was exaggerated. Essentially it's a tad bit like the 1997 Oscar winning version of Titanic. So with that in mind, I still am unsure about this film and it's story.

There is a LOT that happens in this film, so much story is packed in, in so little time. Sometimes thats OK, but here none of it flows well and it all seems disconnected. I never felt "in" to the movie so to speak. This film is a PG-13 borderline NC-17 version of soap opera. The subject material we are displayed is intense and very risque. Two sisters both vying the affection of the apparent sex fiend King Henry, both end up being his mistress. One ends up being his Queen and the woman who mothers the future Queen Elizabeth. This story is almost sadistic, its so relentless and almost doesn't pull out all the stops. There is a moment where one of the sisters is so scared for her life because she miscarried Henry's baby, that she nearly sleeps with her own brother (who apparently in real life was gay man, yet they didn't mention it in the film). This even leads to some pretty crazy and tragic endings, but my goodness, this movie was at times very shocking. I actually almost gasped a couple times.

The performances were all quite good. Nothing spectacular or memorable, but very good. The best being from Oscar nominee Natalie Portman (Closer). Her character is so sinister, but so intelligent at the same time and Portman really pulls it off. You never really know if you are rooting for her or completely against her. She's a total witch, then you feel bad for her. Portman does an excellent job at displaying those drastic character changes. Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, Match Point) kind of had the same character fluctuations, and also was good. She too plays this character that you don't really know if you hate or love. Her performance was more subdued and not as flashy as Portmans but that's OK, because you need the kind of balance in a film. Eric Bana (The Hulk, Black Hawk Down)was totally miscast here. He still doesn't have that charm or star quality. Even after being in The Hulk, people still don't really know who he is so I don't know how he was supposed to pull of King Henry! His performance was just OK for me.

The film is quite beautiful to look at I thought. It has wonderful set pieces and great costuming. The musical scoring is haunting and effective. Awesome cinematography, the works.

To quote Rotten Tomatoes, this film does in fact have some extravagent and exciting moments. This is not an awful film. It's just tends to be a bit too much and tad shocking. We have these truly awful characters, and they continually drop Jesus' name and praise God's name, claim they are devout Catholics. They are adament about consumating their marriages to make it official. Yet they are adulturous and cheat on their spouses; have un-married sex; have children out of wed-lock, the list goes on. King Henry LEAVES the Catholic church completely, all for a girl. I don't know how accurate that is to real life, but in the film I thought it was almost repulsive.

Eh, I guess I can recommend the film for movie goers who are not faint at heart and enjoy a juicy 16th century soap opera. Basically not a film most guys would care for. You girls may eat it up though. For me, it was overall pretty average. Some great filmwork, solid performances, but a story that is just so confusing and poorly strung together. A story that is shocking. Shocking isn't always a good thing my friends.