By Fred Topel | Images property of Columbia Pictures.
The Other Boleyn Girl
I go into a movie like The Other Boleyn Girl knowing it's not my thing. I hope it can be engaging like Elizabeth, but realistically, they're usually not. It's history, British people, royal family, they need sons… Yeah.
Review: The Other Boleyn Girl
For this type of thing, I can recognize that it's scandalous and juicy. I just still can't care about people in a boring time and their love lives. Really, the fact that their whole lives focus on getting a man is pretty dysfunctional. There was just nothing else going on other than getting married and having kids. They didn't have cool stuff like Blu Ray and Guitar Hero back then.
There's some suggestive dialogue and rebellious women doing things that they weren't supposed to in that time. There's a lot of interpersonal tension I don't understand but I'll take their word for it. It's exactly the kind of thing the audience for this type of movie loves, and all in pretty dresses.
The story keeps moving, there are constant changes and dramatic role reversals back and forth. I recognize that that is compelling storytelling. I just still can't get involved. Elizabeth made the drama relatable. This typical sort of fare just doesn't grab me.
Anne Boleyn is kind of cool and fun as the manipulative evil schemer. It looks like Natalie Portman is having fun for the first time in her career. She eventually gets to the serious, sobbing drama girl she usually plays, but at least there's some context here. That's something, if not actual appreciation for the story itself.
I guess everyone has their thing. Mine just isn’t period pieces. There's nothing about that era that intrigues me. I hope I've at least gotten good enough at my job to recognize when it has done well for those fans though.
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