Does not measure up to the book and not meant to be accurate

Rating: 6/10 (12 June 2008)

I've browsed through the comments briefly and then wrote this review, so hopefully I cover a few grounds. Anyways, I thought that the book and movie were meant to be historical FICTION, which means that there are going to be plenty of inaccuracies about the history (although switching around ages of Mary and Anne was a pretty big inaccuracy), but neither one is meant to be accurate, or at least, that's what I thought when I read the book and then watched the movie. Now that I've got that off my head, onwards to the meat of the review. I read the book first, and adored it! I wasn't looking for accuracy, I was looking for what the back of the book cover stated clearly - a situation in which two sisters vie for the attention of a king, each holding a different reason in their heart. Both the movie and the book did a decent job of showing the sibling rivalry, but its the rushed manner and the lack of plot in the movie that disappoints me. Gregory, while being inaccurate, certainly created a captivating tale of two sisters, one young and in love, and the other older and sly, both chasing after the same man. I adored the book plot, and was disappointed to discover that many things changed between the book and the movie. For instance, Anne does not chase after King Henry at first because Mary is the one that catches his eye, and she instead assists Mary and then falls in love with Henry Percy. Also, Mary starts out as a lady in waiting to the queen, and is highly favored by the queen, whereas in the movie, they completely bypass this and instead, make the queen ridicule Mary the first time they meet. In addition, they do not show either Mary or Anne being exiled to Hever, and instead, exile Anne to France, where she actually came from at the beginning of the book. Their mother is much more ambitious in the book than in the movie, so seeing her sympathy and tears in the movie surprised me. Portman and Johannsen did a wonderful job of portraying two sisters, and the actor playing George was quite good too. I adored the woman playing Catherine of Aragon, because she had both a regal manner and the pride of a queen. However, Bana, who played King Henry, made me want to cry because of his sulking, constantly angry portrayal of King Henry. Is it too difficult to be jolly or smile? And that harsh-sexual scene between him and Anne just took me aback, because at that moment, he's supposed to be deeply in love with Anne, almost bewitched by her, in a sense. It's after many squabbles and her inability to produce an heir that he starts turning against her. I'll stop here for now, because there are so many dissatisfactions I had. I, for one, was pained to see a wonderfully written book torn apart and compacted in this unfavorable fashion. However, it may seem like a good standalone film for those who have not read the book or do not expect an accurate historical account from this movie. Many of the actors and actresses have done a wonderful job, the costumes are amazing, and the emotions are expressed beautifully. However, the movie lacks in both plot depth and scripts, and does not follow the book as well as I hoped it would.