The Other Boleyn Girl

Who: Lola
What: The Other Boleyn Girl
Where: 60" of Blu-Ray in my family room
Why: It was cheap on the Blockbuster used shelf



So...my first attempt at Yakking!!!

This movie is the story of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII. It stars Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johannsen and Eric Bana. The movie is based on a book by Phillipa Gregory. A book that Ms. Gregory says to be fact, but is actually a fictionalized account of the rise and fall of Boleyn.

I am not one of those people who read a book, and immediately discount the movie version. I am, however, a person who nitpicks when a movie is incredibly different from the book. There are not enough nits in the world for me to pick to account for the differences from print to screen in this movie, but I digress, I am here to talk about the movie.

This is the story of Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary. The Boleyns are a power hungry bunch, and the daughters are used to gain "favor" with King Henry. They become King H8's Holly and Kendra I guess. Henry wants a son to be his heir, and his wife, Catherine of Aragon cannot give him one. Mary becomes Henry's mistress and mother of a son who will never be king. Anne uses her feminine ways to get Henry to break from the Catholic Church, divorce Catherine and marry her. She really loses her head over this guy...

For the women, this movie does not have enough "romance". For the men, nothing blows up. The movie moves along at a quirky pace. The gay men are neutered. The straight men are neutered.

I'd rent it if you had nothing else to add to your Netflix queue. And didn't want to be bothered with reading the book. And aren't a stickler for historic accuracy.

Some Wierd Trivia though...

• The neckalce that Natalie Portman wears in the movie (a B with pearl teardrops) is the same one Ugly Betty wears on that show.


• At one point in the movie, Natalie Portman's Anne utters the Star Wars Line "you're my only hope" it made me chuckle.