This week's film review is not really a new one, and one I'm sure everyone's probably already seen, but they are two I have seen and never reviewed, and hey, maybe there's folks out there that haven't yet: The Other Boleyn Girl. I saw two because there are two versions, one done in 2003 by the BBC, the other done in 2008 by Sony Pictures/Focus Features. Both films were based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Phillippa Gregory(which I have also read). The BBC version stars Natascha McElhone as Mary Boleyn, Jodhi May as Anne Boleyn, and Jared Harris as King Henry VIII. The one by Sony/Focus stars Scarlett Johansson as Mary, Natalie Portman as Anne, and Eric Bana as Henry. First the bad: both films don't follow the novel all that closely, I'm not a fan of the way Anne & Mary talk to the camera in the '03 version...it feels to contemporary, and the '08 version changes things around in some parts and leaves out other things I felt are key. Now for the good: the '03 version is a bit more closer to the book than the later version, and the acting is well done. The '08 version's acting is also well done, as expexted, and the costumes were beautiful. As for the story itself, for those who may not have read it, is about the love/hate relationship between Anne and Mary, their battle for the love of the king, and, of course, Anne's tragic downfall. Deffinately check them out if you're a lover of the reign of the infamous Henri Octus. '03 version: 3 out of 5 '08 version: 2 out of 5. :-)
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