The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) User Reviews

I love period movies and this did not disappoint. The story line was absolutely entertaining, a dysfunctional family that proves to be utterly hopeless, sort of like my own. It was sexy, provoking and power mongering in a shameful way...all the stuff that makes movies great. It a spectacle to watch due to the cinematography and the costumes, very believable so much so that it pulls you deep into the screen and you forget that you are in 2008. Yes, it's trashy too but isn't that what we thrive on.? Come on, be truthful. It's a nice getaway movie, just don't take your teenage daughters.

05/22/2008, 9:33 am

I read the book and really enjoyed it...it is an interesting historical fiction and a good read. I just saw the movie today and though like most movies based on books it was not 100% the same as the book, I still really liked it. I am not surprised they cut out some of the details since the story included many different romances for both girls that would never have fit in a 2 hour movie but I do think there was enough detail to build the characters and the story. If you like historical fiction I recommend both the movie and the book but if you are going to be judging for accuracy you will most likely be disappointed since it is definitely fictional.

05/22/2008, 9:34 am

i just finnished reading the novel "The Other Boelyn Girl" and loved it and was very excited to see the movie but was very disappointed. The beginning is too slow, almost boring and then the ending happens in like 5 minutes-way too fast. I think the movie could have been much better. There were so many small details they could have incorporated in the movie but failed to. The relationships between all the characters were so unpassionate that they were unbelievable. I wanted to see the hatefulness and competiveness between the sisters but didn't. Mary says she loved the King but it seems all so fake. Many of the good parts in the book were completely left out. The acting seemed pathetic compared to the book. For example, in the novel when Anne is accused and everyone has to give there answer for guilty or not guily, the Uncle in the book "chokes on the word guilty" and her former love "leaves court and claims he is ill" because he is still in love with her-but in the film none of that takes place. the film had so much potential and could have been much better. my adivce: read the book. i don't even like to read. when i saw the previews for the film and deciced to read the book because the movie wasn't out yet. i couldn't even put the book down. if you read the book and watch the film, you will realize how captivating the book is and how much better the film could have been

05/22/2008, 9:34 am

I love this movie from beginning to end. All actors did a wonderful job. Can't wait to see it again.

05/22/2008, 9:33 am

Historically inaccurate, and cinematically inadequate, the film spends too much time with the panoply of Tudor England which does not further the character development, or establish the tension between the characters. Eric Bana was not the debauched Henry, old and smelly. Natalie Portman was the perfect choice to play Anne and Scarlet Johannson was the perfect choice to play Mary, but the director could not transcend the extremely bad screenplay to showcase their talents. The book is great and I wonder that Philippa Gregory would allow such a travesty to be visited upon her book. Ms. Gregory is a superlative wordsmith, an excellent story teller.

05/22/2008, 9:34 am

sad tale poorly toldI went to the first screening, hopeful and was very disappointed. Cryptic and disjointed.

05/22/2008, 9:33 am

I finally saw this film last night, and can say with ALL honesty, that it was a very good movie!!Natalie and Scarlett both did AMAZING jobs in their roles!!Was it the best movie I have seen this year? No. But it was defintely not as bad as some others here have mentioned. If you like history, it will hold your interest!!I think that it will be a major rental success once released on DVD!!I would give it a 7.5/10 rating.

05/22/2008, 9:34 am

Although it is supposed to center around Mary, like most movies/shows concerning this topic, the plot focused on Anne. Most of the basic points of the plot were changed and the timeline was completely off.

05/22/2008, 9:33 am

A quick glimpse at the Tudor family line on Wikipedia will yield hundreds of years of made-for-movie material, but none quite as compelling as the story of Anne Boleyn. Pair a classic story with airy language, beautiful sets and costumes, and some A-list names and you have Oscar magic in the making. Right? Well, not always. We've seen it before and we're not necessarily impressed with royalty anymore. The Other Boleyn Girl offers new perspectives and dramatic angles on the saga of wives that is Henry VIII's legacy, but nearly drowns in melodrama.The Other Boleyn Girl could be so much more. As a hyper-dramatic costume flick, it does stand out. There's more than meets your eye, and the costarring performances are not to be missed. There's a lot of material to cover in this story, but a simplified script would have helped keep this film farther away from too much drama. Especially with a true story as wild as this, there's not a lot that needs to be changed or added to grip the viewer. Any embellishments verge on destroying believability and creating situations we can't relate to.

05/22/2008, 9:34 am