JPF Home Page Forums Creative Arts Forums Acting, Theater, Film and TV Forum "G-A-C" Review: "THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL" / N. Portman/ S. Johanson

Those 16th Century Gals must've been EASY~ Just LOOK at all the Goings-On in "The Other Boleyn Girl": King Henry the 8th NEEDS a Male Heir, & his Queen Catharine HASN'T Delivered. (Rumor has it "She's Menopausal"...) So What's a Virile Head-of-State to DO?

Well, if you're Screenwriter Peter Morgan (of "The Queen" and "The Last King of Scotland") you take this True Bit of History & make an exciting Movie out of it, featuring 2 Historically-Real Sisters.

Their Dad, Sir Thomas Boleyn, in real-life was a Successful Foreign Diplomat. In the Movie, however, (played by Mark Rylance) he's NOT in the Best of Fortunes, so with their Uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, (by David Morrissey), they invite King Henry for a Visit to their Country Estate hoping their daughter, Anne,(Scarlett Johanson) will catch the King's newly-Roving Eye. (With any luck, the King'll invite the Whole Family to Court, Anne'll be the King's Lover, and all the Family Financial Woes will rapidly go away.)

Far-Fetched though it sounds, the King DOES focus on a Boleyn Daughter...The "Other One"...Mary (Natalie Portman)...who's recently "Already-Married"...so..Her New Hubby's let-in on the now-revised Family Plan. & off he goes to court, too..where a "Distant Assignmet" from the King awaits him..& the Gals become Ladies-in-Waiting. Mary gets impregnated by The King/ Anne gets in a bit of a Scandal & is sent off to France for an Education, as banishment. Just-prior to the birth (of a son, who in real life bore the name of Henry..tho also, in real life, Mary had a Daughter..first)

Anne's returned from France around this time..a Changed Woman! No longer shy, WELL-Educated, she's a great Charmer..& succeeds in prying King Henry's affections towards her, at the cost of her sister's standing. Anne in the Movie, & in History, succeeds in Henry's divorcing his wife AND breaking away from the Vatican to form the first "Protestant" version of The Christian Church. She's "Wife Number Two"..(With 4 more to follow..)..& eventually LOTS of people lose their heads over the Goings-On.

The Sets & Costumes are truly Beautiful; Natalie Portman & Scarlett Johanson are at times lusty, beautiful, treacherous, loving, jealous, pregnant, pathetic..& ALWAYS Interesting! Eric Bana does a very Handsome Portrayal of Henry (Tudor) the 8th..& the sole Daughter Anne Boleyn bore her Royal husband DID become his heir-to-the-throne...Elizabeth I. (Surviving Sister Mary left Court to live a simpler-life-in-the-country..& ended up a distant Ancestor of Winston Churchill AND Princess Dianna!)

The History Here has been "Juggled-a-bit" to make the Plotline smoother and The Gals more "Politically-Correct" & Sympathetic, so AFTER you Enjoy The Movie (which I did..."7 1/2-Outta-10" for an Enjoyable Evening-in-the-1500's) DO Google-search the Boleyns..Mary and Anne-- (They were even-HOTTER-Tamales than the Movie lets-on!)

"Hats Off" to Director Justin Chadwick for making Palace Life COME-to-Life, for an Intrigue-Filled Evening! (Nothing "TOO-Spicy Onscreen, BUT the Execution Scenes are WHY I'd leave the Younger Kids At-Home.)

JMO...Keep-or-Sweep-it

Big Hugs,
Stan

Another one I'll wait to see on cable! = )

I think this one I STILL Like a LOT, weeks-after I saw it.

It's "Different" again... I've seen Historical Fiction before; Liked It... It's FUN Being-Educated, & a Good Plotline (With Good-Lookin' Babes) always kept My Interest.

So Much So that AFTER the Movie I Googled Both Gals...AND Henry-the-8th. I never KNEW that Martin Luther hadn't got his courage up to nail those Thesis on the Door..UNTIL King Henry got HIS Courage Up to Head-Up the Church of England. Crafty Anne Boleyn was, in-essence, a VERY Pivotal Character in ALL SORTS of Historical Changes that echo right down to today!

So..see it on da Big Screen if ya got the Time & Loot! It's an Impressive Flick.

Big Guy-Hugs,
Stan