I had been excited to see The Other Boleyn Girl ever since I heard that the movie was being made. I loved the Philippa Gregory novel the movie was based on and I am also very interested in the Boleyns’ history so I knew I had to see this movie! Sadly, it did not live up to my high expectations.

Most people are already aware of the name Anne Boleyn and her place in history. In case you aren’t here’s the story – she was the second wife of King Henry the VIII of England and his first wife to be beheaded. This movie not only focuses on Anne (Natalie Portman, Garden State), but also focuses on her lesser well-known sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson, Lost in Translation). King Henry (Eric Bana, Hulk) is in desperate need of a male heir and will do anything to achieve it. The Boleyn family realizes this and begins plotting to put Anne in his bed. Unfortunately, Anne’s stubbornness ruins her chance and instead the King grows interested in Mary. So the sisters’ rivalry begins. Mary is already married, but her husband is quickly put to the side so the King will be the only man in Mary’s bed. The future looks wonderful for the Boleyn family, especially upon finding out that Mary is pregnant! Too bad she has to stay in her bed for six months or until the birth of her child, as was the custom back then. Meanwhile the family continues to plot, and Anne is back in the game. She was only supposed to keep his mind on Mary, but Anne was jealous and ambitious - history well knows how far that got her. Eventually she persuades the King to leave Mary (and their son!), divorce his wife, and even make his own religion that will support the divorce. With a plot like this how could you go wrong?

Well…if you’re looking for historical accuracy don’t look here. If you wanted a movie that stayed true to the book it’s based on don’t watch this one. Looking for a steamy romance? Try again. This movie failed in all of these aspects. The writer of this movie (Peter Morgan, The Queen) took historical fiction as fact and changed it even more! I just wanted to scream out what was wrong. The most obvious being how King Henry looked – nothing like Bana that’s for sure! Couldn’t they have tried just a little harder? Although the costumes were nice to look at, they couldn’t even get Anne’s signature “B” necklace right! Another thing that really bothered me was that in the book, as well as in everything I’ve seen and read, the Boleyn family was known for being overly ambitious people with no sympathy for anyone – not even each other. Yet in this movie they make Anne and Mary’s mother, Elizabeth (Kristin Scott Thomas, The Horse Whisperer) feel bad about how the men in the family are treating her daughters, as pawns and not family. It just wasn’t necessary. It felt forced, and it’s not like she could change anything she was only a woman herself in a world where men ruled. Then of course we have the blasé romance. There was no chemistry between the actors during the romantic scenes and it made them almost painful to watch, especially Johansson and Bana’s scenes.

Even with all these annoyances there were still two things I did enjoy in this movie. The first being Natalie Portman’s performance. I had my doubts that she could convincingly play Anne but I thought she was spot on. She surprised me with the different emotions she showed. By the end of the movie I actually felt bad for Anne and was hoping she’d be saved though I knew it wasn’t going to happen. The second thing I enjoyed was Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) as George Boleyn, Anne and Mary’s brother. He was the highlight in every scene he was in. He also showed many emotions convincingly going from being a loveable goof to completely vulnerable. He’s a very central character in the book and I was disappointed that he had so few scenes in the movie.

I would give The Other Boleyn Girl a D+ and say recommend reading the book instead. The only way I’d actually recommend this movie is if you had never read the book and had no previous knowledge of the Boleyns’ history. I saw this movie with my mom and she fits into both of those categories. She liked the movie. But I stand by my opinion – there are much better movies out there to spend your money on.