The Other Boleyn Girl

The mass fascination with anything Tudor-related denies the slightest chance for television and filmmakers to go wrong. Who can resist the general formula of barbaric scandal beneath royally refined closed doors? It’s so hot that there have been terms aptly created to describe its appeal – Tudormania, Tudor-chic, Tudorrific, and even, Tudor-licious. But our apologetic guess is to say, that these words were probably all inspired without The Other Boleyn Girl in mind.

In summation, it’s pretty much an episode of the Bold and the Beautiful set against the backdrop of a defining moment in history. Which basically means, everyone either romps or plans to, while managing to find a minute or two to majorly affect the British dynasty. Anne (Natalie Portman) and Mary Boleyn (Scarlett Johansson) are pimped out by their father and uncle to bed and wed King Henry VIII (Eric Bana), who reacts by doing everything but run his own country. Even with pinches of beheading, cheating, lying, scheming, even a little incestry, The Other Boleyn Girl manages to hold attention for all the wrong reasons. We’ll overlook wondering where Johansson’s eyebrows went the entire film, but what was up with the accent anyway? It sounded more fitting for a boisterous Saturday Night Live skit of Harry Potter. Portman only did well to bawl and sob for quite a fair bit, while Bana had more charisma as the Incredible Hulk (which isn’t a good thing). Off with their heads!

Cast Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Jim Sturgess Director Justin Chadwick Runtime 115 mins Opens 11 September

Text Claudia Low