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Java Man Reviews "The
Other Boleyn Girl" (Rated
PG-13)
Directed
by Justin Chadwick.
Written by Peter Morgan.
Starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, David
Morrissey,
Kristen Scott Thomas, Mark Rylance, Jim Sturgess & Ana Torrent.
Running Time: 115 minutes.
Overview...
England's Henry VIII (Bana)
and his Queen, Katherine of Aragon (Torrent) have been unable to
produce a male heir to secure the Tudor royal line. W hile
the Henry decides on a course of action, he finds himself in need
of a mistress. The Duke of Norfolk (Morrissey) and Sir
Thomas Boleyn (Rylance) realize that their family fortunes can be
greatly enhanced if Boleyn makes one of his fetching daughters
available for the king's consideration. Strong-willed Anne
(Portman, pictured left) is chosen, but soon falls out of favor
and is banished to France. Naive Mary (Johansson, right)
then catches the king's eye and becomes his lover, even though she
is already married to a merchant's son (who approves the match
when offered a cushy job at court). By the time Henry loses
interest in Mary, Anne is back from France having studied the
womanly wiles of the femme fatale. She captures the king's
fancy and plays him like a lute. She will gladly submit once
his majesty meets a few minor requirements... break with the
Church of Rome, annul his marriage to Katharine, and take her as
his queen. The rest is history -- and you know some heads
are gonna roll.
Review...
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2
1/2
out of 4
Java Mugs |
This is the story of how
the course of human history was changed when the most powerful man
in the world risked his kingdom and his soul for the love of a
beautiful woman. I'm not sure any movie can do justice to
such a momentous theme, and this one wisely doesn't even try.
It begins as a mildly interesting, conventional costumer, but
somewhere along the way deteriorates into an embarrassingly soapy
melodrama.
While the
characterizations never rise to the level of the historical
figures they are based upon, the acting itself is more than enough
to keep the viewer's interest. As the king, Bana seems a
strange casting choice. My image of Henry forever remains
Charles Laughton gleefully devouring a leg of mutton. Bana's
Henry is much younger, more virile and interested in legs, but not
of the mutton variety. The problem with
Bana is that his kingly bearing is overshadowed whenever one of
the Boleyn girls enters the frame.
Portman is nicely naughty
as England's most notorious seductress, while Johansson brings the
voluptuously innocent Mary as far as the screenplay will allow
her. The supporting cast is impressive too, with Morrissey
as the dastardly duke of Norfolk, Scott Thomas as a proto-feminist
Lady Boleyn and Torrent as the spurned Katharine.
The movie's greatest
strength is certainly the art direction and production design.
All of the exteriors and many of the interiors were shot in
castles and estates that actually date back to the period
portrayed. England has what it calls the National Trust, a
system that preserves its history all the way back to King Arthur.
It's great for tourists... and moviemakers, too.
In many movies made in
England the setting is often a central character, and -- as in
this film -- one of the most interesting.
To Watch a Preview of The Other Boleyn Girl
Click Here
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