The Other Boleyn Girl

reviewed by Sam Osborn

More passion was put into the costuming than in the making of The Other Boleyn Girl, a period slog as interesting as a ninth grade history class. Academic comparisons aren’t too apt, however, since this adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s bestselling novel is bouncily light on history. Consisting instead of two sisters’ malicious beddings of King Henry VIII during his marriage to Queen Catherine of Spain, the film plays out like a drab, costumed episode of “The Real World.” As soon as one hottie gets the alpha male, the other hottie sleuths in for a slice of her own Type A male dominance. If nothing else, The Other Boleyn Girl proves that squeezing your actress into a bodice does not make your movie respectable.

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