Movie review: ‘Other Boleyn’ tries to be more than it is

Director Justin Hadwick’s “The Other Boleyn Girl” is a soap opera rendering of the tumultuous relationships that revolved around the court of Henry VIII. Peter Morgan, who delivered the elegantly crafted script, “The Queen,” stumbles a bit here with sappy dialogue and uninspired character development in this screenplay based on a novel by Philippa Gregory.

Spurred on by his manipulative brother and motivated by the promise of wealth and position, Sir Thomas Boleyn agrees to a devious plan that enlists the help of his spirited and ambitious daughter, Anne (Natalie Portman) in order to entice the interests of King Henry (Eric Bana), who has tired of his queen because she is no longer able to produce a male heir.

While initially interested in Anne, it is her mild-mannered and less than glamorous sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson) who Henry takes a fancy to and with no concern of the fact that she is newly married. To appease Henry’s desire, Thomas arranges for the virtual break-up of Mary’s marriage and soon a bitter rivalry brews between the sisters. Once Mary is pregnant with Henry’s child she is confined to bed rest and Anne swoops in for a second chance at enticing the fickle king, and in the process calculatingly betrays her own sister.

While in the midst of her conquest, it is Anne of 1,000 days who orchestrates the annulment of Henry’s marriage, facilitates the break from the Catholic Church from which the Church of England was born, and ultimately is rewarded by all of this with a beheading after being falsely accused and charged for acts of treason.

The costuming and sets in this production are as expected; lavish and colorful in appropriate Tudor fashion. The performances are all adequately executed, however, Portman seems a bit overwhelmed with her role, as opposed to Johansson who delivers hers with trademark aplomb. As mother Boleyn, Kristin Scott Thomas, manages to convey a believable mixture of resignation and disgust while witnessing her weak and amoral husband prostitute his children.

“The Other Boleyn Girl” tries to be more of an extravagant epic than it actually is. Because of the heavily laden melodrama that hangs over each scene, fans of this historical period and genre will likely find this offering only a satisfactory effort.

(Two and a half out of four stars.)