THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL

Headline: ** Unreliable Compressed Cliff Notes on English History **
Title: THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL
Quality: * * Acceptability: -2
SUBTITLES: None
WARNING CODES:
Language: L
Violence: V
Sex: SS
Nudity: N

RATING: PG-13
RELEASE: February 29, 2008
TIME: 113 minutes
STARRING: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Kristin Scott Thomas, Mark Rylance, David Morrissey, and Jim Sturgess
DIRECTOR: Justin Chadwick
PRODUCER: Alison Owen
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Scott Rudin and David M. Thompson
WRITER: Peter Morgan
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY: Philippa Gregory
DISTRIBUTOR: Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Entertainment

CONTENT: (RoRo, FeFe, RHRH, C, B, L, V, SS, N, A, MM) Strong Romantic worldview with strong feminist content and revisionist history where male society shapes some women to do evil things, plus some positive Christian and moral elements, but viewers are asked to sympathize with adulterous women because the men around them, especially the more powerful ones, are more mean, corrupt and sinful; two light profanities; some violence (but not in your face graphic) includes implied beheading of two people (movie does not show the actual beheadings); strong sexual content includes passionate adulterous kissing and being in bed together, implied intercourse, woman proposes to brother that they have incest so that she can give her husband a male heir but they do not carry out the act, and rape strongly implied (not shown in explicit detail); upper male nudity and some shots of women's bare backs, but nothing explicitly sexual; alcohol use; no smoking; and, ambition and lust for power rebuked, corruption, and jealousy.

GENRE: Historical Drama
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Older teenagers to adults

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Sony Pictures Entertainment
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SUMMARY: THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL is a historical drama about the adulterous love affairs that King Henry VIII of England had with Mary Boleyn, and then with her older sister, Anne, who became queen but then was accused of treason. Despite some moral Christian elements reminding viewers of God's Truth, this movie has a strong Non-Christian worldview with feminist attitudes and strong sexual references.

IN BRIEF:

THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL deals with a lot of English history in a short running time. Based on a novel, the story concerns the adulterous love affairs that King Henry VIII had with, first, Mary Boleyn, and then with her older sister, Anne. Thomas Boleyn, Mary and Anne's father, and their uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, force Anne and then Mary to pursue the King. This occurs just before and during the time when they begin serving Henry's first wife, Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to give Henry a male heir. Eventually, King Henry's pursuit of Anne Boleyn results in him breaking from the Roman Catholic Church and founding the Church of England.

THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL gives short shrift to this story's religious aspects. Instead, it concentrates on its fictional depiction of the personal relationships between King Henry, Anne and Mary. Eventually, the movie asks viewers to sympathize with the adulterous women because the men around them, especially the powerful ones, are more mean, corrupt and sinful. This gives it a strong Romantic worldview with a strong feminist attitude. The movie also contains strong sexual references but no explicit nudity.