The Other Boleyn Girl

The first version of this story and not bad atall. Mary Boleyn, who was the first sister to catch King Henry VIII's eye and, well, other parts, was the pretty sister. She was married but her father pimped her out demanding she sleep with the king. Once he'd had his way Henry looked elsewhere, all while still married to his loving wife of many years, Catherine of Aragon. Little sister Anne sees all and doesn't let the King have his way with her so easily. I think this is actually better than the later Hollywood-made version, even if this one is a TV movie.

Plainly made for TV, this austere earlier version of Philippa Gregory's revisionist 2001 novel flaunts its small screen origins with swaying camerawork in drab, grainy colours like a Ken Loach docudrama of the 1970s.

Although apparently no more accurate a picture of life at the court of Henry VIII - when he was still relatively young and dashing - than the other bawdy or Technicolored romps that preceded it, it still paints an appropriately harsh and claustrophobic picture of life as it probably really was in sixteenth century England.

I'm still amazed that they were able to take such fascinating subject matter and turn out such a dull, miscast and disjointed feature. Switching the ages of the two main female characters didn't help, either. On the plus side, it was enjoyable to see Jared Harris apparently channeling his late father for his role of Henry VIII.

Skip the movie, read the book.

Contrary to what the other reviewer here states, this was not meant to be a sweeping vision of history. It was clearly meant as a chamber piece - a chick flick of dark proportions.

While this production does not begin to embrace the scope of Anne's criminal nature, or the greater national ramifications that became of her union with Henry VIII, it doesn't aim to. What it does do, however, is paint a poignant portrait of what it was to be a woman in the 16th century, and how ruthless those days in court were.

I'm a fan of the novel this is based on and am hugely thrilled by this adaptation. It is bold and striking and the lead performance by Jodhi May is one of the most compelling I have ever seen anywhere. It should certainly act as her calling card to producers everywhere that she is more than ready to make the transition from ingenue to adult role. By this performance, I'd say she made the leap long ago.

Jared Harris turns in a dead on performance as the Tudor king who became a tyrant and not the least bit because of his union with Anne Boleyn. The rest in the cast paled in comparison to these two, but that does not mean they turned in poor performances. To the contrary, this was a top notch production I wish greater American audiences could see.

The only glitch for me was toward the end when there is video footage of modern day England, tourists at the Tower of London. I don't get it. But I can forgive one small moment in light of the greater ambition and success of this project.

Period drama should always be so delicious!

The ever-dependable Steven Mackintosh and Natascha McElhone turned in solid performances to back up Jodhi May's powerful portrayal of the Tudor monarch. Jared Harris' Henry VIII managed to be sympathetic, seductive and tyrannical in turn. The unusual talking-to-camera, reality TV-style direction was a feature that really ought not to have worked but somehow did. As a depiction of the ruthless politics and intrigue of the medieval court, the movie succeeded very well. One word said out of place and heads, quite literally, would roll. A historical film could be said to be good if it increases interest in its subject matter. This fascinating and complex story is sufficient to have the laziest viewer reaching for the history books by the time the closing credits appear.