Regardless of historical accuracy, of faithfulness to the novel the Other Boleyn Girl is a bad film. The screenplay is a succession of scenes with very little purpose until the second half of the film. Even then it fails to create a sense of intimacy with the characters, a series of monsters in their own right for which the viewer does not care. Even the good sister is depicted as too stupid and obedient to be worth any sympathy. After all her sister has done to her she still loves her; whatever monstrosity her daddy or uncle asks her to perform she does it with a nod and smile. So she can't be the right point of view to tell the story and she is not. The main problem of this bad screenplay is indeed that it is not told from any body's point of view. The POV is outside. So is the spectator. Outside the theater quick. Fresh air. Relief. Now when it comes to directing, the director manages to make three of the most handsome actors and actresses in Hollywood today look plain, vulgar and tired. Almost every shot has the wrong POV. The camera moves are repetitive. Filming through a grid, a fence, whatever he can find is a repetitive pattern of photography. Horrible color timing. One scene is green, the other is dark, the other red, without any apparent logic. Lighting is crude, plain, TV-like most of the time, and all of a sudden falsely sophisticated for a minute without a reason. The castles feel empty and dead. You feel it's a movie set all the time. Costumes: ugly, taking all the appeal away from the actresses. A Majority of BBC TV period dramas look better than this film. Deserved to flop at the box despite its ultra glamorous cast and a very interesting story to begin with. A complete waste.
Review of The Other Boleyn Girl
