My friend Michelle, who has read the book, warned me the movie version was awful. However, I tried to remember teacher Josh's comments about separating source material from film. That was impossible here.
Every year, the Golden Raspberry Awards “honor” the least-laudable cinematic efforts of the prior year. I’d like to propose a new category for 2008, Worst Adapted Screenplay, and I already have a nominee: Peter Morgan for The Other Boleyn Girl.
Granted, the source material, Philippa Gregory’s 672-page glorified Harlequin, isn’t exactly The English Patient. However, Morgan, who previously did deft work on The Last King of Scotland and The Queen, so modifies, truncates and condenses the story that it bares almost no resemblance to the breezy page-turner.
To wit: The title’s operative word is “other.” The novel is about Mary (a milquetoast Scarlett Johansson), not Anne (Natalie Portman, whose voice lacks the maturity needed to convey madness or ambition), yet the alleged title character disappears for large stretches of the film. Instead, Morgan and director Justin Chadwick parade through relationships, pregnancies and miscarriages that didn’t occur as written and make up scenes in the courtship of King Henry (a too-young Eric Bana) and Anne.
As in soap-opera writing style, Morgan does take time to make sure the audience knows Anne and Mary are related: The word “sister” is uttered literally 25 times, including three times in one sentence. If only Morgan had developed intelligent storylines rather than repeating expressions.
The Other Boleyn Girl didn’t need to be Harvey Weinstein-style Oscar bait, but it could have been decadent fun. Instead, it’s just as ridiculous as its ponderous costumes (which, by the way, look as cheap as a 1970s shag carpet).
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7 comments:
I was so looking forward to seeing this film, but since reading your review I guess I'll pass. Thanks for saving me the cost of a ticket.
Mary
New picture??? When did you get to hold an Oscar?
The Academy Awards has sponsored "Meet the Oscars" in Times Square the past two years. I stumbled across this picture of myself from 2006 - I forget whose Oscar I'm holding - but I thought it most appropriate for a film blog. Yes, I stood on a podium to give a speech, and yes, that sucker is as heavy as people say it is.
Mary, I'm glad to be of service. However, you might like the movie if you haven't read the book. Michelle found this to be the case in her informal surveying, and I know my father liked the film.
I found both the book and the movie to be fun "guilty pleasures." It's quite true that the movie doesn't really follow the book. Consider them as separate entities.
I wasn't expecting great literature when I read the book; I wasn't expecting a classic when I saw the movie. Thus, I wasn't disappointed in either.
I must mention that I think the cast of Showtime's "The Tudors" is superior to that of "The Other Boleyn Girl."
Maybe it's time to watch "The Tudors." I'll be curious to see what someone who does it in reverse order, i.e.., movie, then show, thinks.
You can borrow "The Tudors" from your brother (if he remembers what he did with it).
Lisa, I agree with your mother -"The Tudors" is an excellent show and I highly recommend it. Also, I don't know if you've seen "Anne of the Thousand Days" but that was a great movie. They show it on cable TV periodically, but I'm sure you could rent it.
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