MovieChat Forums > The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) Discussion > Disappointing. Needs do over as a minise...

Disappointing. Needs do over as a miniseries

posted 11 years ago by thetuffpuff
3 replies | jump to latest

First, I feel like I have to ask if this was supposed to be based on the Philippa Gregory novel? If so......What an absolute missed opportunity!
They took far too many liberties and made too many deviations. Worst of all, none of the characters were developed enough to draw the viewer in. So in the end, it was just costumes with out the drama.

In stark contrast, the novel is DELICIOUS! I listened to the unabridged audiobook and loved it, all 23 hours of it.
This novel deserves a quality miniseries!
The fault is the script. It's a good cast. I would totally watch a miniseries with the exact same cast but with a script that was true to the novel.

The two most tragic betrayals to the novel are (no spoilers):
1. The weak portrayal of Anne. In the novel, she is complex, proud, plotting, ruthless, ambitious.... In this movie she was just milk tea.
2. The complete omission of Mary's life and love story!

(My disappointment was heightened because I BOUGHT and streamed the film on Amazon Instant moments after completing the audiobook. I did not want to wait for the disc to be mailed from Netflix. Such was my love for the book, that I was dying to see the film version. So, I was extra disappointed.)

[–] tracy-johnson-1 11 years ago

Then watch the 2003 mini-series instead.

It's not perfect either but it's a bit longer, with a bit more of the book's plot in it and Stafford is played, very lovably, by Philip Glennister, which was a bonus for me.

Or if you're not that fussed about Mary in particular and would like a wider view of the other issues involved and the politics & religious basis of various people's agendas surrounding Henry's break from Rome, then The Tudors is actually pretty good for all that. Not everything happens in quite the right order and some artistic licence is taken here and there but it's not actually bad for historical accuracy, when compared to... well this for instance.

[–] Prismark10 9 years ago

The BBC made this as mini series first and after its success remade it as a movie.

Its that man again!!

[–] Annabelle2918 9 years ago

And neither of them worked for me, unfortunately. The movie was bizarre. And where in the world did Mary's husband disappear to? They forgot he died before they gave her another one!