"The Other Boleyn Girl" may make hash of recorded history, but it's good drama. Based on a novel, it follows the Boleyn sisters, Mary (Scarlett Johansson) and Anne (Natalie Portman), and their seriously warped relationship with King Henry VIII (Eric Bana).
Portman, who suffered through three terrible "Star Wars" films, is back in form as a schemer for the ultimate second chair in England. Alternating between a victim of the misogynist times and a shrew whose soul has been swallowed by ambition, she's ruthless, cunning and weirdly innocent.
Every actor and role is top notch, especially Kristin Scott Thomas as the Boleyns' suffering mother and Jim Sturgess as gay brother George. The drama hits many points, including the dangers of theocracy and the sheer hypocrisy of anyone who claims that God has given them power to rule. Thomas has one of the year's best lines: "God turned his back on this long ago."
English history is rife with jaw-dropping stories of immorality, death and schemes for power, and this story is one of the best. The film bears it well. B+
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