Good for its Genre of Soap Opera Epics.

Rating: 10/10 (29 February 2008)

I just got back from a 12:00 screening. Of course it was just me my two friends and like five other people (it was the first showing after all) and all I can say is that I was pleasantly surprised. Ignore the reviews. This movie is ten times better than Memoirs of a Geisha and granted its a soap opera of a movie, its really a good one.
Natatlie and Scarlett are surprisingly good. I mean a lot of the reviews were on the fence about both of them, but they pull it off, or they pull what they can with the accents. Portman is devilishly good as Anne. Yes this isn't a good representation about Anne (I prefer Anne of the Thousand Days, which historians and movie critics believe is probably the closest portrayal of the doomed Queen of a Thousand Days) but Peter Morgan did an excellent job in not fully adapting the book. The book made her out to be this delusional bitch who you really hate, but in the film he makes her a two dimensional character, which you hate one minute, and really, really love her the next. I am not going to give anything away, but what she goes through from both her Parents, her uncle, her sister, and of course henry and the court, its only fair in saying that the girl had the right to go a little crazy.
Scarlett is Mary, and she is sweet, loving, and of course a two dimensional character like Portman's Anne. Its so strange because in the book, she is the main character while Anne gets the supporting role, but in this film both Girls share the title of Other Boleyn Girl equally until the third act which is the final act, where it is clear Mary will forever be known as the "other." Bana is pretty bland in some parts. He is given nothing to do but yell, laugh, seduce, yell some more, and of course go a little mad. Female audience's as well as Bana lovers on these forums, he does show a lot of skin, more than the ladies Jim Sturgess who plays the elder brother George Boleyn, Ana Torrent who plays Katherine of Aragon, and Kristin Scott Thomas who plays Elizabeth Boleyn the mother of Anne and Mary are all equally good in their supporting roles, especially Ms. Thomas who I am so happy is getting work. She is still beautiful and when I was watching her I could not stop thinking that she is Katherine Clifton from the English Patient. Sturgess is also a promising talent. He and the girls had great chemistry.
the overall direction is way much better than The Golden Age. Yes okay the plot borderlines Age's soap opera, but Chadwick made Boleyn Girl a good soap opera. It is not over the top in technicals, its subtle textures, and gorgeous costumes from Sandy Powell are all excellent. The score is also subtle and haunting, nothing like the huge epic blasting in Golden Age.
Overall I give it an 10 out 10. Its enjoyable, and the performances fit the roles. Portman and Scarjo have a lot of chemistry. It was nice to see them act alongside each other. I think if it had been released for Awards considerations I think costumes, score, and art direction would have been nominated, along with maybe cinematography (the countryside shots, as well as palace balls and banquets and Anne's coronation are beyond gorgeous to look at!) This film isn't supposed to be taken seriously. I mean look at the material it is based on. The film was made to be enjoyable whether you agree with the story or not. We all know that it is not real, but that is the point of making movies to tell stories we hadn't heard before. This film isn't a history lesson. Its more of a character study between two sisters who were forced by their family to be rivals.