Boleyn No History Lesson

The Other Boleyn Girl is anything but a dry history lesson about the 16th century, critics say—don't take it too seriously, and you'll be all right. It "probably shouldn't be the way in which high-school kids learn about Henry VIII and his court, but it's a fun movie," writes Bill Goodykoonts in the Arizona Republic. Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson star as Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary.

The pair's performances "give the Boleyn hotties a tough core of intelligence and wit," writes Peter Travers in Rolling Stone. Anybody who remembers English history from school will know how the story pans out, but with all the over-the-top soapy moments, Christy Lemire writes for the AP, "your eyes will probably roll before anyone's head does." (More movie review stories.)