"The Other Boleyn Girl"

Title: "The Other Boleyn Girl"
Director: Justin Chadwick
Producer: Alison Owen
Editing: P. Knight and C. Littleton
Composer: Paul Cantelon
Starring:
- Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn
- Scarlett Johansson as Mary Boleyn
- Eric Bana as Henry VIII of England
- Jim Sturgess as George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford

Plot and Critical Review: When Catherine of Aragon fails to give England a male heir, the Duke of Norfolk and his brother in law, Thomas Boleyn, plan to install Thomas' elder daughter Anne in the court of Henry VIII of England. Howard and Thomas hope that Anne will become the King's mistress and potential mother of his son, thereby furthering their own political ambitions. They plan all of this to the disgust of Thomas' wife and the duke's sister, Lady Elizabeth Boleyn. Although Anne initially refuses because she knows being a mistress can damage her reputation, she finally agrees. Anne's younger sister, Mary, marries William Carey, even though he had asked for Anne's hand.

While visiting the Boleyn estate, King Henry is injured in a hunting accident, indirectly caused by Anne, and is nursed to health by Mary. While in her care, Henry becomes smitten by her and invites her to court. With great reluctance, Mary and her husband William Carey agree, knowing full well what will be expected of her. Anne and Mary become ladies-in-waiting to Queen Catherine, and Henry sends for Mary to join him for the evening. Mary quickly finds herself falling in love with the King.

Anne secretly marries the nobleman Henry Percy, who was engaged to Mary Talbot. Anne confides in her brother George. who thinks this is wonderful news and tells Mary about the secret marriage. Fearing that Anne will ruin her reputation by marrying without the king's consent, Mary alerts her father and uncle about the secret elopement. The marriage is annulled and she is exiled to France. Feeling that Mary betrayed her to increase her own fortune, Anne vows revenge.

Despite the scandal, the family's fortunes seem secured when Mary becomes pregnant. However, Elizabeth warns Thomas and Norfolk that the king's favor can be taken away as easily as it is given. The men ignore her. Thomas becomes Earl of Wiltshire, and George Boleyn becomes Viscount Rochford.

When Mary nearly suffers a miscarriage, she is confined to bed for the remainder of her pregnancy. Norfolk recalls Anne to England to keep Henry's attention from wandering. Still deeply hurt by Mary's betrayal, Anne embarks on a successful campaign to win Henry over. By withholding sexual favors, Anne drives Henry to vow to never again bed his wife Catherine of Aragon, nor speak to Mary. Anne exacts this promise just after Mary gives birth to the much-anticipated son, making her victory hollow. Shortly afterwards, at Anne's suggestion, Henry sends Mary and her son, dubbed a bastard, back to the country.

Anne encourages Henry to break from the Roman Catholic Church when the Pope refuses to annul his marriage to Queen Catherine. Henry succumbs to Anne's demands, breaks from the Roman Catholic Church, declares himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England, and gets Thomas Wolsey to annul his marriage to Catherine. The scandal of Anne's brief, secret marriage to Henry Percy threatens her coming marriage to Henry until Mary, the only one Henry will trust, returns to court and lies on Anne's behalf, assuring him her union with Percy was not consummated.

Despite her plan's success, Anne's schemes drive Henry to his breaking point and he rapes her. Hurt and confused by the attack, a now pregnant Anne goes through with the marriage to please her family and becomes the new queen of England. Anne and Mary reach a reconciliation and Mary stays with her sister at court.

Despite the birth of a healthy daughter, Henry is angry with Anne's failure to deliver a son. Mary remains in court and cares for her niece, Elizabeth. After Anne miscarries a son, she is hysterical and begs her brother George to impregnate her. Disgusted at this suggestion, Mary leaves court and moves to the countryside with William Stafford, whom she had fallen in love with. Anne and George do not sleep together because he refuses to impregnate Anne. George's neglected wife Jane Parker witnesses enough of their encounter to become suspicious. She reports what she has seen, and Anne and George are both arrested. At the trial, Anne is found unanimously guilty of treason, adultery and incest. Distraught at the news of Anne and George's death sentences, Elizabeth blames her husband and brother and vows never to forgive them for what their greed had done to their children.

Mary returns to court to plead for her siblings' lives, but arrives too late to save George, who is executed in front of his father. Mary begs Henry to spare her sister. The king softens and tells her he would never harm part of her. Believing that Henry has spared her sister, she leaves to see Anne right before the scheduled execution. The two sisters embrace and Anne tells Mary she never slept with their brother, and they truly reconcile. Before she leaves, Anne makes Mary promise to take care of Elizabeth if anything should happen to her. Mary watches from the crowd as Anne makes her final speech, waiting for the execution to be cancelled as Henry promised. A letter from Henry is given to Mary, which reveals he has decided not to stop the execution. It also tells Mary that she was only spared because of his respect for her, and warns her never to come to court again. Horrified, she watches as her sister is beheaded. Mary then fulfills her last promise to Anne and leaves court with the toddler, a strong red-haired girl who would become Queen Elizabeth I.

My Rating: 5.5/10

Content to Caution:
V-2 - No comment.
L-2 - Some mild cursing.
DU-2 -Heavy drinking in social and private settings.
RT-0 - No comment.
H/S-1 - No comment.
CH-1.5 - No comment.
S/N-2.5 - Multiple scenes with sexual content, but only partial nudity is shown.

The "Reel Revelation": "If You Say So..."

Have you ever known someone who could convince you to do anything? When posing that question to myself, I can think of only one person; Billy Mays.

Billy is arguably the greatest infomercial salesman in American history. Even after his unfortunate death in June of 2009, he remains unmatched in the industry of salesmanship and product presentation. His seemingly infinite fount of charisma and charm helped many products to reach financial success. Products such as Awesome Auger, Grip Wrench, and OxiClean owe their success to Billy. I know people who bought whatever Billy was selling, no matter what the product was; he had a way to get people to buy anything.

"The Other Boleyn Girl" is about a family being directed and influenced by someone with as much cunning and skill of persuasion as Billy Mays. That someone is not Anne or Mary or Thomas Boleyn, but the scheming uncle, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. If you've seen the film, you know that whenever a decision was made, it was always by the aggressive "suggestion" of the uncle. And when he had to answer for the decisions he made on behalf of his brother in law's family, he always said "That our fortunes with the court may increase". By the end of the film we realize that no member of the Boleyn family committed any offense that wasn't a result of following Thomas Howard's demands. Somehow, he was able to get the Boleyn family to do anything (and we see how far the girls and George went to fulfill his greed and envy) for the sake of fortune and financial safety. Do you know anyone like that? Whether you do or you don't, your life has already been irrevocably affected by people just as envious and influential.

The traditional concept of "envy" is of a person being envious of another person or another person's belongings or success. That's entirely true, but I want to challenge you to think of envy in another way; a person being envious of another person's success (or a person wanting to reach success in general) and seeking to achieve it through someone else. Reaching back to "Boleyn", we see this concept in action through Uncle Thomas' efforts to achieve security for himself through the Boleyn family. While he didn't actually do anything himself, it was his envy (discontent) that drove his pursuit of fortune and glory.

Do you see how strong envy can be? It's not limited to a vice that dwells within; it reaches out, takes control, and seeks fulfillment through whatever means are available. You and I are at the receiving end of great forces of envy every single day; we are the "means" that are available! We are the buyers that supermarkets are trying to win over with express checkout lines and low prices. We are the drivers that the auto industry is trying to romance with low APR percentages and leather seats. We are the "savvy shoppers" that malls try to lure in with storefront clearance sales and promotions for the kids. It's not just business; it's the envy of a society seeking to achieve more and more through our pocketbooks and paychecks. And this is the world we live in. There is no escape.

BUT...

"...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another." (Galatians 5:22-26)

We do not serve the world or the masters of this temporal realm. We serve a God who urges us to serve one another with the virtues listed above; the very fruits of the Holy Spirit our God sends to us. Even though it seems like we cannot escape the vicious cycle of envious consumerism, we're reminded that our very lives do not belong to this world at all. Remember what Jesus said in his great pastoral prayer for his disciples: "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." (John 17:14-16)

Pray that God will weaken your resolve to pursue fortune, fame, and worldly security. Pray also that God will help you to see the ways you've used others to achieve the things you desire. Pray that God will help you to find peace and contentment in His love, not in the things the world offers. "For He Himself is our peace..." (Ephesians 2:14a) Amen.

See you tomorrow - E.T.