caffeine thoughts & nicotine dreams

Drama, scandal, sibling rivalry, politics, debauchery... it sounds very fascinating and engaging from the get go. And I have to say, props to the trailer! Too bad the movie didn't live up to all the hype around it.

The Tudor costumes were fabulous and they serve their purpose of transforming you to that era quite well. Plot-wise though, it personally fell a little short of expectation. If you be a bit nitpicky about it, there were some historical inaccuracies as well. And I enjoy my fair share of period pieces mind you, being the history buff I am.

Props to Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman for playing their roles well (at least to the best of their abilities given the film's shortcomings). I mean, you can actually see the stark contrast between the two characters. The downside though is that I couldn't see myself feeling terribly sympathetic towards one or the other girl because the story felt a bit rushed thanks to the cerebral straightforward approach the film took in its storytelling. Particularly with the way they rush through the events like we're watching an extended made-for-Tv movie. I would have liked it better if they focused the story more from Mary Boleyn's perspective or delving more into the psyche of the sisters (what made them act the way they did... that would have added more meat to it!) It is, after all, entitled THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL.

Overall, the movie's just ok for me. I don't love it but I don't hate it either. (Wow so this is how an American Idol judge feels like!) Fell a bit short of expectation but fairly ok. Is this the best period piece I've seen? Not.

I'm halfway through the book as of this posting and I can honestly say I enjoyed reading the book more.