The Other Boleyn Girl is certainly a well-made film, and the story is of great historical interest. But if none of the characters are sympathetic, the audience can't be expected to care.

The Other Boleyn Girl is Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman), who, along with sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson), competed for the affections of King Henry Tudor (Eric Bana), better known as Henry VIII.

Henry is obsessed with producing a male heir, but his wife Queen Catherine has lost many children.

The conniving Boleyn family, hoping to gain power, begins to shop their daughters around as potential mistresses for the king.

Mary is able to bear Henry two children, but Anne quickly turns the King's affections toward her and gets him to turn his back on Mary. Anne goes so far as to convince him to annul his marriage to Catherine.

The divorce is in direct defiance of the Pope, and contributes to England's schism with the Catholic Church.

It's an intriguing set of events, especially if you aren't already familiar with the story -- which, if the American education system has failed you like it failed me, you won't be.

But there's an emotional wall between the audience and the characters. Henry strains the wellbeing of his country and treats people with all the compassion you'd expect between a king and his subjects.

Any tenderness he displays toward Mary is nullified when he turns his back on her, still clutching his newborn child.

Henry's infatuation with Anne comes off as illogical. Historical documents typically refer to Mary as the more attractive of the two, but Anne is able to woo the king into an absolute frenzy simply by playing hard-to-get.

Yet Bana plays Henry as a man who prances around his castle, brooding over a girl, making him not only a reigning, influence on the Church of England, but also on emo kids everywhere.

Portman's performance fares better, as she plays well against her type and convinces as the manipulative Anne.

But she's maybe too convincing, as there's no reason to feel sympathy with Anne.

She turns her back on her sister more than once and endangers her entire family by making a play for Henry right as Mary is solidifying her own relationship with him.

When Anne is eventually (spoiler warning for those who failed their European history class) beheaded at the end of the film, there is no reason to care about someone who acted recklessly and was destructive toward everyone around her.

I'll leave an analysis of the accents, costumes and historical accuracy to those more qualified than I, although the film does reek of Hollywood simplification.

The Other Boleyn Girl is sometimes entertaining, but all the scheming and double-crossing is merely tiresome when there's no emotional anchor. There's absolutely no reason a film that features infidelity, executions and even allegations of incest and treason should be even the slightest bit boring.

Grade: C-