The Other Boleyn Girl

Anne's sister, Mary, in case you're wondering who the other Boleyn girl is. Based on Philippa Gregory's historical novel, it spans the years of Henry VIII's reign when he was pumping everything that moved in a bid to produce the male heir his queen Catherine of Aragon couldn't give him; two of his mistresses being the Boleyn sisters (Portman as the future queen, Johansson as the other). Glorious to look at, and moderately compelling in its depiction of the sibling rivalry, The Other Boleyn Girl arrives as a perfectly decent period drama, but it's all just a bit lifeless. A tale of bed-hopping and head-lopping such as this demands to be bawdy and brisk, not sanitised and stately. Accuracy-wise, there probably isn't much to complain about, though matters of Rome and secession are barely grazed, and come the wrap-up, it descends into A History of Tudor England for Dummies. Both Portman and Johansson offer well rounded performances, the former in particular given more to chew on as the scheming Anne, though when it comes to on-screen Henrys, Bana simply can't hold a candle to Sid James. [Paul Greenwood]