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The very definition of guilty pleasure (assuming you like this sort of thing, of course). It's predictable, super melodramatic and at times way too fast-paced, but it's VERY unlikely to bore you. In fact, the fast pace is probably the reason for that, so maybe it makes more sense to commend the filmmakers for making The Other Boleyn Girl a swift-moving film, as it makes it feel involving, even if it leaves you feeling like there's a few too many plot holes.
As the obvious central figure of the story, Natalie Portman deserves particular recognition here. Her Anne starts out as a vulnerably jealous older sister. Her pain is more than perceptible to the audience. We then get an interlude in which she does not appear on-screen for a certain amount of time (during Anne's exile to France), and upon her return, Portman shocks us with the transformation she's given to her character, who has become a delicious villainess, who lays out her plans with a cunning smile and gives us no reason to doubt that she'll accomplish what she's setting out to do. As if that weren't enough, during the climax Portman returns to that former vulnerability that characterized Anne in the first act, and she achieves this seamlessly. It is because of this fascinating full-circle transformation that Portman's work trumps that of Eric Bana, Scarlett Johansson and the supporting members of the cast, even though they hold their own, for the most part.
It feels weird to speak well of this film, since I'm not the soap opera type at all (and it does often feel like one), but this one definitely had me from start to finish. If you enjoy dramatic period pieces that focus less on the politics and more on the intimate dynamics of the characters that inhabit stories like this one, this is your movie.
6/10
