So, my wife, her friend and I went to see a movie today. Guess which one? Yes, The Other Boleyn Girl! I get to see two of my Hollywood crushes in the same movie and not get in trouble for it! So, how was it?
Well, Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman were cute. And the costumes were nice.
This movie is a rear bird--a film which rushes the plot along but yet still seems to drag.
To say this film is flawed would be an understatement. Not much time is given to character development. We are supposed to naturally understand the bond between Natalie, playing Anne Boleyn, and Scarlett, playing Mary Boleyn, just because they're sisters. We get little evidence of said bond. The results are that the betrayals and supposed betrayals are weak and ineffective.
There are other holes in characterization. I mean, are we suppose to believe Anne was angry at Mary for "stealing" the King when she herself was tricked into going after him in the first place? The fundamental driving point of Henry the VIII was that he desparately wanted a male heir, yet, when Mary gives him one, he walks away from it. Why? Because he was hot and heavy for her because she returned his gifts.
There are also other plot holes. Mary has as husband that is "sent away on Royal business", yet marries another man without us ever finding out what happened to the first hubby. It seems that we are missing major parts of the movie, parts that were imortant, parts that would have made the movie better.
Johansson and Portman do well with what it given them. Eric Bana, however, is a dead fish. he shows such little charm and passion in the beginning of the film, when his temper flares up in the second half, it seems fake.
It could be not all his fault. The fault may lie with the script and directing. Basically. we have a melodrama that mistakenly believes it is closer to Shakespeare. The result, what could be a fun soap opera is buried under the weight of its own seriousness.
Oh, and for those of you who are interested, Johansson has three sex scenes. Two of which, she is wearing more clothing than she did in all of The Island. And the third is shot is soft focus to preserve the rating. So, know that going in.
TRAILERS:
- Stop Loss: I think they added a line in this trailer, one that says "Since there is no draft, enlisted men have to keep going back to Iraq". If that wasn't clear from the rest of the trailer, and it was (to me at least), then your film is in serious trouble.
- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2: Interesting in the way that when the first one came out that the most famous pair of the four were Amber Tamblyn (from Joan of Arcadia) and Alexis Bleidel (from Gilmore Girls). Now, it's America Ferrara (from Ugly Betty) and Blake Lively (from Gossip Girl). What a difference a couple years make.
- Under the Same Moon: I don't care how well this movie has been received critically, I'm not buying a five year old boy crossing the border to search for his mom.
- Mamma Mia: Yes, this one.
- 21: Every time I see this trailer, I am distracted by Jim Sturgess' fake American accent. Seriously, is this how American's sound when they try to do a British accent?
- Made of Honor: Patrick Dempsey trying to see if he can regain success as a movie lead. This film if it were made ten years ago would have been a vehicle for Julia Roberts, on with a gender switch.
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