Details
Movie Description
Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson star as Anne and Mary Boleyn in this adaptation of the bestselling novel by Philippa Gregory. While their story is perhaps one of history's most well known, THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL has fun with the facts, creating a lusty, dramatic tale of deception and betrayal. The film begins with the girls' power-hungry uncle (David Morrissey), discovering that King Henry VIII's (Eric Bana) marriage to Catherine of Aragon (Ana Torrent) is falling apart. Their uncle suggests to their father (Mark Rylance) that he tempt the King into taking Anne (Portman) as his mistress, thus putting the family in the King's favor. But the King has no time for the strong-willed Anne, and instead turns his attentions to her already married, soft-spoken sister Mary. With her eye on the Queen's crown, Anne renews her attempts to seduce the king, driving a wedge between her and her sister.
Bana is a brooding, sexy Henry, and Portman and Johansson both give strong performances as the beautiful and bewitching sisters. While some might quibble over the historical inaccuracies of the film (of which there are quite a few), most will let themselves get lost in the sea of beautiful bodices, and the anticipation of when those bodices might be ripped...
Industry Reviews
3 stars out of 5 -- "Portman draws the eye with a barnstorming turn....[With a] rich visual palette and dynamic camerawork..."
Total Film - Kate Stables (04/01/2008)
"THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL offers the pleasures you want....The actors playing the scheming Boleyns flex their eyebrows on dastardly cue....[C]risply enjoyable..."
Entertainment Weekly - Owen Gleiberman (03/07/2008)
"What works is the combustible teaming of Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson....In Portman's dynamic performance you can see strength and vulnerability warring for Anne's soul."
Rolling Stone - Peter Travers (03/20/2008)
3 stars out of 5 -- "Portman and Johansson conjure admirable performances....The stages upon which they play are all sumptuously framed and shot..."
Empire - Will Lawrence (04/01/2008)
"Natalie Portman rises to the challenge of Anne Boleyn with relish, dark eyes flashing as she revels in her own wit and erotic appeal....[The film has] enough style and originality to keep it absorbing."
Sight and Sound - Philip Kemp (04/01/2008)
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