I will spare you many of the boring details of the story. While the individual details themselves might be interesting, the lack of anything of substance binding them together causes the story to come across blandly.

A big problem are the performances, or perhaps it is the way they are written. I just did not like any of them. Are we supposed to see romance? Intrigue? Personal drama? Whatever they were going for I just did not see it. I could not identify with or even like them. The father is weak and selfish, Anne is manipulative and power hungry, and Mary... well, she's the closest to human but still lacks much depth.

This movie just may not be for me and it belongs to a genre that more often than not escapes me. I sat there wanting to like it, but I couldn't. There is definitely plenty of intrigue to be milked, but everything is so stagy that it just sucks the humanity out and leaves melodrama that would be better served on the stage.

Bear witness as Eric Bana's King Henry VIII stomps around like a petulant child who doesn't get what he wants and just sits on the floor and pouts. Watch as Scarlet Johansson whimpers her way through as Mary, never giving us anything to root for, simply making sad faces throughout. All the while Natalie Portman's Anne chews up everything in sight; nothing is left untouched as she boils over with supposed emotion.

Nothing clicks, and when it came to a merciful end I was left wondering why. There is certainly plenty of talent involved, why is this not more involving than it is? Why is everything so drained of personality in the midst of wildly overdone theatrics?

Whatever the truth behind the fiction is, you would likely be better served reading the biographies written about Anne Boleyn than getting mixed up with this film.

Bottom line. You could do a lot worse on the big screen, but you could also do a lot better. Those who eat this stuff up are likely to enjoy seeing this dry telling play out. I hope it works out for you. As for me, I hesitate to call it bad, but it certainly could have been a whole lot better.

Not Recommended.