And 5 That Sucked...
5. King Henry VIII - The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
Sony PicturesNon-British actors have a very bad record when it comes to pulling off a British accent of any kind. Examples range from Dick Van Dyke's infamous turn in Mary Poppins to
Keanu Reeves' dismal performance as Harker in Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula. Bana's attempts at playing one of the most (im)famous British kings has tended to slip below the radar, much like the film as a whole. But lack of public outcry is no excuse for leaving this example off the list. Based on the popular novel by Phillipa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Girl is a romanticised account of the lives of Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman) and her sister Mary (Scarlet Johanssen). With the marriage of King Henry VIII (Bana) and Catherine of Aragon (Ana Torrent) failing to produce a male heir, the Boleyn family plot to install their eldest daughter Anne as the King's mistress. But during a visit to the Boleyn estate, Henry is injured in a hunting accident and takes a liking to Mary. So begins a series of events while will lead to the creation of the Church of England and Anne gaining the throne, only to lose her head. The Other Boleyn Girl is a frothy and melodramatic affair which seems more interested in its pretty trappings than political intrigue and the role of women in Tudor society. Despite boasting a script by Peter Morgan (Rush, Frost/Nixon), it's strangely devoid of tension with all three main performers seeming uneasy in their given roles. Bana is particularly inert, barely managing the accent and either brooding or shouting through all of his dlalogue. He has none of the boyish charm and fearsome rage that Robert Shaw provided in A Man For All Seasons, which is a far superior look at the monarch's tumultuous reign.