Maid in England

Rating: 6/10 (12 March 2008)

I don't like period pieces. The only reason I went to see this was Natalie Portman. What puzzled me was that the theater was packed with young women, nicely dressed and giggling. In that respect, you might say the audience was a mirror image of the on-screen action. I guess the girls were there for Natalie too. Or maybe it's the fancy dresses. I have it on authority that girls like fancy dresses. Surely they couldn't have been there for the movie as such. Or could they? It turned out not to be such a dusty duck after all. I guess marrying for wealth and power never goes out of style. Think Moscow. Think Dubai. Hell, think Park Avenue. The way the story is told makes it easily digestible for a 21st century audience too; the scene in which Anne ogles Henry like he's just another juicy hunk feels thoroughly modern. Says producer Scott Rudin: "If you're going to spend two or three years of your life working on something, you've got to be making the kind of movie that discusses and influences the culture and is engaged in the world you're living in." Despite its merits, "The Other Boleyn Girl" is not one of those movies. Unlike "There Will Be Blood" and "No Country for Old Men", both of which are recent Rudin productions as well. Forgive me for thinking that the best thing about "The Other Boleyn Girl" was the tiny black dress Natalie Portman wore when she went to promote the movie on Letterman.