Impressed

Rating: 8/10 (7 March 2008)

The Other Boleyn Girl is normally not a film that I would see in the theater. I took my mother to see this for her birthday. She wanted to see this so off to the theater we went. I thoroughly enjoyed the film. The performances are fantastic, but I have to say Johansen surprised me a bit as I didn't think this was her kind of fare. She doesn't come off as being a period piece kind of actress. However she and Portman turn in the film's best performances, as well they should since they are playing the titled characters.
Bana gives us a tortured and VERY faulty Henry VIII. Everyone of the cast, all BBC regulars, are stellar.
The histrionics of the film aside, I was never bored and was kept completely pulled into the story mainly by the performances of Johansen and Portman. The locations are beautiful and you get a real sense of history from the production design and costume design, though the film's and the book it is based on, are not entirely factual in the account shown.
I would recommend this one even at full price admission.