Cast: Natalie Portman (Anne Boleyn), Scarlett Johansson (Mary Boleyn), Eric Bana (Henry Tudor)
For complete information, see IMDb's The Other Boleyn Girl page.
Since I LOVED the book The Other Boleyn Girl and was very excited by who they chose for the cast (the book my friend let me borrow actually had the cover with Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, & Eric Bana, which probably helped). The costumes and sets looked like they were very well done and I was hoping they'd done a good job with the story. I rushed out to see the movie, since I wanted to be sure to see it on the big screen and period pieces don't always do too well in theatres. As far as the costumes, sets, and cast were concerned, I have nothing but good things to say and I suppose seeing the beautiful costumes on a big screen was worth the effort, though I have a pretty big TV, so I'm not sure about that.
As for the story... Wow. The movie started a bit earlier (in the book, Mary Boleyn had been married for a couple years, I think - I'm trying to remember exactly how long after her wedding the book started) than the book, ended at the same point, and skipped a lot of important detail.
Since I'm accustomed to seeing books made into movies, I think I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to changes in plot though I can't handle the addition of a love story (Jurassic Park) or elimination of a love story (The Pelican Brief). I understand that movies are only a couple hours long and it's impossible to cram an entire novel into that time. That being said, there are certain things you really shouldn't skip and they seemed to pick many of these when they wrote the screenplay for The Other Boleyn Girl. The most egregious error made when they adapted the book for the screenplay was removing the death of one of the characters' husbands (I won't explain further, since I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't read the book and will see the movie). This wouldn't seem like a big plot point, but this character does still end up with her second husband, meaning that she's now married to two men (according to what you've seen on screen). When leaving the theatre, I actually asked my friend who went with me (who had not read the book) if I had missed this man's death, but I hadn't. They just skipped it. They also left out a lot of the births and other things that happen in the book, making the movie only worth watching for the scenic and costume design.
If you love period pieces and haven't read the book, The Other Boleyn Girl is probably a pretty good movie. If you have read the book and aren't really enthralled by costumes and sets, don't bother wasting your time with The Other Boleyn Girl. If you really love costume and scenic design, it's probably worth renting the movie to see those, but don't expect much from the story. The movie was very disappointing.
Grade: C
Labels: 2008, drama, Eric Bana, history, movie, Natalie Portman, romance, Scarlett Johansson
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:30 PM show | 0 screams