And I thought the book was a bit disappointing compared to the hype! This movie has made my list of “worst movies I’ve ever seen” and wound up improving my opinion of the book.

I should say that the depth and detail of the history of Henry VIII, Catherine and Anne is so great that I don’t believe it can be sufficiently covered in the span of one movie so it was foolish of them to attempt it. It was rushed and seemed edited down to the point of making characters and events shallow and boring.

Not only was it very historically inaccurate but it didn’t even follow the book very well. The historical accuracy doesn’t have to be 100% for me to enjoy it but this movie just lacked any sort of build up to or depth of certain defining moments in history.

Though the movie was full of good actors, their delivery was let down by the nature of the movie being rushed and shallow. If you want to watch a Tudor story that lives up to it’s potential, watch Showtime’s “The Tudors” instead.

SPOILER:

I was speechless – and not in a good way – during the scene where Henry just flat out rapes Anne. I’m still speechless as I write this, I can’t even begin to describe how absurd it is. Henry was an arrogant, selfish womanizer but he was NOT a rapist. Whoever wrote that scene is a disgrace.