When filmmakers re-imagine history, as they did with Becoming Jane and now with The Other Boleyn Girl, affairs of the heart can get dicey. At least Jane Austen kept her head in the process.
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03/01/08
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The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
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Reviews Counted:135
Fresh:56
Rotten:79
Average Rating:5.3/10
Consensus: Though it features some extravagant and entertaining moments, The Other Boleyn Girl feels more like a soap opera than historical drama.
Theatrical Release:Feb 29, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $26,814,957
Synopsis: Based on the best selling novel by Philippa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Girl is an engrossing and sensual tale of intrigue, romance, and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in... [More]
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Reviews for The Other Boleyn Girl
I've read reviews calling this a campy bodice-ripper. If only! It desperately needs a dose of the "b$&*%es on heat" sass of the novel. Instead, we have a milk and honey picture.
03/01/08
There will always be adults who want to catch up on the history lessons they slept or passed notes through during their younger years.
02/29/08
Only in a movie this poorly made could a decapitation be dull.
02/29/08
...has the aura of a penny-dreadful bodice-ripper.
02/29/08
Rather than being a boring, humdrum historical drama, this movie turns into a Jerry Springer episode from the 16th century.
02/29/08
The corrupting effect of absolute power and the disruptive effect of fine cleavage.
02/29/08
[An] oversimplified, overheated mediocre melodrama.
02/29/08
Portman and Johansson are phenomenal alone and together.
02/29/08
[A] vulgarized portrayal of the Tudor court.
02/29/08
Overscored and lacking even the faintest realism of period, the movie still bears undeniable trash charms, if nothing near the deep satisfactions of such medieval nonsense as Beckett.
02/29/08
What Boleyn Girl lacks in character development, it makes up in vigor, immediacy and intelligence.
02/29/08
After covering much of its ground at a stylish canter, The Other Boleyn Girl finishes at a plod.
02/29/08
Top CriticThe Other Boleyn Girl is an agreeable piece of filmmaking, carefully and sometimes artfully balancing solemnity with fluff.
02/29/08
Chadwick and Morgan have cooked up a potboiler, the sort of thing that might have been fun to watch with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as the Boleyn sisters, while Charles Laughton lasciviously eyed the backs of their necks as Henry.
02/29/08
Top CriticHowever embarrassed you might feel in the morning, this in an enjoyable movie with an entertaining angle on a hard-to-resist period of history.
02/29/08
Top CriticA genteel soap opera in which the sex and intrigue are so muted, so tasteful, that they practically blow off the screen in a scattering of dust.
02/29/08
Top CriticMost of us know where this story is headed (ba-da-bum), and in order for the moment in question to have impact (ba-da-thump), Anne should engender at least a modicum of sympathy.
02/29/08
An entertainingly sudsy trip through early 16th century English history.
02/29/08
Top CriticIt might help if more effort had been made to make Henry an interesting character (history indicated that he was), but Bana is all costume.
02/29/08
Latest News for The Other Boleyn Girl
August 23, 2008:
Iconoclast.com: An all in the dysfunctional family royal romp with incestuous tendencies, this richly textured, dramatically disciplined, erotically laced and emotionally taut creation makes for weirdly kinky historical analysis. 
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June 18, 2008:
An all in the dysfunctional family royal romp with incestuous tendencies, this richly textured, dramatically disciplined, erotically laced and emotionally taut creation makes for weirdly kinky historical analysis, but pretty steamy pre-tabloid melodrama.
More...
June 09, 2008:
RT on DVD: Bosomy Boleyn Girls, Jumper, John Adams
As the latest wave of Obamamania sweeps the country, look forward to HBO's Recount...or peek into the past with HBO's John Adams. Also clear your calendar for high-def Top... More...
June 05, 2008:
Another Boleyn Girl On the Way?
Despite lukewarm reviews and middling box-office receipts, rumor has it that work has begun on a sequel to The Other Boleyn Girl. More...
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