Just Another Costume Drama

Rating: 5/10 (17 March 2014)

Endless dancing, rich feasts and courtly love affairs. Women used as pawns for the advancement of men and a king so intent on having a male heir that he took six wives in order to obtain one. These are the descriptions that come to mind when one thinks of Henry the Eighth's court and are the aspects movies try to capture in their plots. The Other Boleyn Girl specifically focuses on the rivalry between Mary and Anne Boleyn as they fight to hold the king's ever wavering interest.
When looked at simply, the plot is one most are familiar with: two women in competition for the love of one man. The audience is introduced to these two women in the very beginning of the movie and they are portrayed as great friends and sisters. This knowledge of the characters gives us a false sense of security; these two could never betray each other for love, right? Unfortunately we are forced to watch as the desires of the men in their family pit the sisters against each other in a battle over a kingdom and king's heart. These reasons make me fall in love with the plot; it is not a necessarily deep story, but it does have a certain level of dramatics that capture your attention.
Excellent movies keep an even, steady pace and do not rush the telling of the story. The Other Boleyn Girl races through over a decade of events, jam-packing rich and interesting history into less than two hours. For example, Anne is exiled to France, Mary becomes pregnant and Anne is recalled from banishment, all within five minutes. These events are supposed to show a time span of several months and the movie did not make this apparent in any way. Further, Anne's marriage to the King Henry is squished into the last half hour of the movie. There was not enough time allotted during this film to give the events their due attention, and it leaves the movie sorely lacking.
When movies undertake the task of telling a historic tale, they take upon themselves the responsibility of correctly displaying the facts. Mary Boleyn did not have a child with Henry the Eighth as the movie portrays. She was also not as pure as the movie leads the audience to believe, as the only reason Henry coveted her as a mistress was because of her sexual reputation. The Other Boleyn Girl also incorporated nothing about George Boleyn's heterosexuality, which was a big issue facing the Boleyn family during their rise to power. There were also several important historical events occurring during the same time frame that may have given the plot more depth had they been explored. For instance, Queen Katherine is hardly mentioned throughout the movie, and she is an instrumental player in Anne's game to win the king. While the story primarily follows the Boleyn sisters' relationship, more elaboration on supporting characters would greatly aid the overall story.
Typically before viewing a film, people will look to see if the actors are known and experienced. The Other Boleyn Girl does not disappoint in this category, boasting Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson as the Boleyn sisters and Eric Bana as King Henry the Eighth. All of these performances are splendidly put on, with the portrayals appearing to be sincere and convincing. Unfortunately, the characters do not seem to have much depth behind them. Mary and Anne's characters are both stereotypical: Mary is the "milk and honey" sister, with fair hair and eyes and Anne is dark haired, dark eyed and the seemingly "bad" sister. King Henry's character appears to be nothing more than a dark and brooding philanderer, instead of a king that also enjoyed sports and music and politics.
Overall, I enjoyed The Other Boleyn Girl. The idea behind the plot was interesting, and Tudor history fascinates me. However, having read the book written by Philippa Gregory, the movie could have been so much more than it was. If it had more depth in the plot, characters and history, I feel it would have been much more successful. Unfortunately, it is nothing more than another costume drama attempting to capture the intrigue of the sixteenth century Tudor court.