Reviewed by Max Foizey.

Release Date: February 29, 2008
Directed By: Justin Chadwick
Starring: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana
Rating:PG-13

When my sister gave me Philippa Gregory's novel "The Other Boleyn Girl" last year, she did it with a disclaimer. This was soap opera stuff, not to be taken too seriously, to be read fast and loose, like the tale itself.

Falling into the realm of 'historical fiction,' Gregory played games with the facts and ended up with a steamy bodice ripper. The film version should likewise not be viewed as anything close to historically accurate, but instead as costume drama diversion. It's very melodramatic, and at times over the top. (Thank you, David Morrissey.)

The film centers around the Boleyn sisters, Mary (Scarlett Johansson) and Anne (Natalie Portman, otherwise known as God's Perfect Creation), whose sisterly bond turns rivalry once their family pits them against each other to win the heart (or at least power, status, riches) of King Henry the Eighth (Eric Bana).

One of the best examples of sexing up history comes not from our females leads, but from Bana as King Henry. Do you really think King H looked like THAT? Hells no, home skillet. Hells no. But seeing a three hundred pound king rolling in the hay with Nat Port and Scar Jo wouldn't set moviegoer's hearts aflame, would it? Can you believe I just said 'hearts aflame?' I can't either.

As the sister's conniving uncle, the aforementioned David Morrissey chews scenery like the rat his character is. Kristin Scott Thomas should have been handed a bigger part as the girls' mother, but as it is she adds class to her scenes.

Natalie and Scarlett are correctly cast, with Portman having to do some heavier lifting acting-wise as Anne Boleyn, while Johansson can sit there and sulk as the more plain sister Mary. (Not that anyone has ever called Johansson plain.) They seem to be having a ball in their scenes together.

Backs are stabbed, love is made, heads are severed. It's too bad director Justin Chadwich has only worked in TV, because the transitions (shots of the castle again and again) are straight out of prime time television. Think "Desperate Housewives" circa 1521.

It's nice to see a costume drama that doesn't take itself too seriously, but in the end you kind of wish it did. The very reason to recommend this film is the same reason is doesn't reach great heights. There's not much to it.

In addition to hosting 'Max on Movies' every Saturday at 2pm on 97.1 FM Talk, Max appears weekly on the Dave Glover Show Fridays at 5pm. A member of the Saint Louis Gateway Film Critics Association, Max has appeared on nationally syndicated radio shows, and written about film for various print and online media. He enjoyed seeing Ellen Page as Natalie Portman in SNL's parody "The Other - Other Boleyn Girls."