Customer Rating:  
Summary: Okay, but see HBO's the Tudors for real drama.
Comment: The drama was weak compared to the Henry VIII story line in HBO's the Tudors. In this story, Henry visits the Boleyns, falls off his horse in a ride with Ann (NP), injuries nursed by recently married untitled mans wife Mary(SJ) who is then asked to come to court (gives husband job), takes Mary to his bed, she eventually becomes pregnant and Henry's eye continues to wonder (to Ann) who teases Henry with flirts yet rejects his gifts. It glosses over the separation of England from the Roman Catholic Church as well as the religious and political turmoil, and treasonous plots other than adultry and thus becomes boring. Ok for a 2 hour rent.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Better Choice is Anne of the Thousand Days
Comment: Forget buying The Other Boelyn. A better choice is Anne of the Thousand Days. The story is told with a far superior script, and cinematography. Richard Burton as King Henry VIII is outstanding. Eric Bana's performance pale's in comparison. An extra reason is that the outstanding movie Mary, Queen of Scots is included on a second DVD. It is a real bargain.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Entertaining soap opera
Comment: The Other Boleyn Girl
This movie is about men who barter with women. Two sisters, close in age, are born to the Boleyn family. The mother, Elizabeth Howard, married Thomas Boleyn against her family's wishes, as she married "down" in society, but she was happy because she married for love. Unfortunately, her conniving brother and fame-seeking husband barter off her daughters for a place in the royal family.
The movie starts off with Mary's (Scarlett Johansson) wedding to the merchant's son. She could have married higher on the social scale, but like her mother, she married for love. Shortly after her marriage, her older sister Ann (Natalie Portman) is asked by both her father and uncle to "entertain" the king when he comes to visit. King Henry VIII (Eric Bana) and his wife have been unable to have a son (they're born stillborn). Ann's conniving father tells her it is important for her to impress the king on the stag hunt, so when the stag goes down a deep ravine, Ann is the only rider who follows (without getting injured, I might add). But the King, not to be outdone, follows and falls off his horse. After this embarrassment (of his own fault), the king is no longer interested in Ann. In fact, she proves to be an embarrassment to him, so Thomas Boleyn sends in his other daughter, Mary, to attend to the king's injuries. What follows are a series of disturbing acts by the men in this story, as well as the now extremely jealous Ann. Mary's husband offers her to the king in a moment of horrible betrayal and Mary's world suddenly crumbles as she's handed off like a piece of furniture. The only person on her side is her mother, who rages at the father who bartered off both daughters like cattle.
After Mary's first night with the king, she is interrogated by her uncle and father before her mother, the queen, and half a dozen people in the room. Shortly thereafter, Ann runs off and marries a noble, and the marriage is quickly "erased" while Ann is banished to the countryside. The way the uncle and father manipulate these two is terrible. The king is probably his most tender when he is with Mary and since her husband is so inadequate in the bedroom, it's easy to see how she enjoys the king's company. Ann, on the other hand, becomes more and more spiteful, starting a series of events that will eventually destroy her (and you won't be sympathetic either). Perhaps the most amusing point in this movie is when the girls' brother is forced to marry a woman he hates. Laughable, because he eagerly helped his father and uncle barter off his sisters.
Ann is finally brought back into the picture when Mary becomes pregnant with the king's child and is bedridden. Her task is to keep Mary foremost in the King's mind at all times (so he doesn't bed someone else), but that's about the furthest thing from Ann's mind. No surprise there. But don't worry, Ann gets exactly what she deserves (just like the real Ann).
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Other Boylen Girl
Comment: This was really a disappointment. If I had not read the book, I'd have been totally confused, because so much was left out or just plain incorrect. The story jumped around-no continuity at all.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great! But don't read the book first!
Comment: I guess because I did not read the book first, I loved this movie.
I can see that many people rated their dissappointment based on reading the novel and comparing the movie. I find that unfair.
Although I know how they feel. It's impossible to reduce the breadth of a novel within the time restrictions of a feature film.
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