While we all remember Princess Diana so fondly, early reviews of Diana may prove that her biopic will not receive so royal a treatment.
The reviews are in from across the pond and Britain’s critics seem to be, by-and-large, extremely unimpressed with the flick and Naomi Watts‘ performance.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film just one out of five stars, and made it to be some rubbish:
“Poor Princess Diana. I hesitate to use the term ‘car crash cinema.’ But the awful truth is that, 16 years after that terrible day in 1997, she has died another awful death. This is due to an excruciatingly well-intentioned, reverential and sentimental biopic about her troubled final years, laced with bizarre cardboard dialogue ├óΓé¼ΓÇ£ a tabloid fantasy of how famous and important people speak in private… [T]he moment anyone, anyone at all, opens their mouth we are in TV-movie-land, soap-land.”
Looks like while Naomi is walking out of interviews, we might be walking out of the theaters that Diana is playing in!
David Gritten of The Daily Telegraph didn’t even see the point of the film, and threw the movie some serious humbug:
[U]ltimately, what├óΓé¼Γäós the point of Diana? It├óΓé¼Γäós hardly fascinating. It doesn├óΓé¼Γäót offer new facts about the Princess├óΓé¼Γäós life. And it certainly doesn├óΓé¼Γäót explain her complexity or contradictions. That would take a different, better film altogether.”
God save the Queen, that is a scathing review!
Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror‘s David Edwards even suggested that a better casting choice included “Wesley Snipes in a blonde wig:”
“Diana can only be described as a fabulously awful film. The Queen of Hearts has been recast as a sad-sack singleton that even Bridget Jones would cross the street to avoid. Despite a peroxide hair-job, she (Naomi Watts) looks, sounds and acts nothing like the Princess of Wales. Wesley Snipes in a blonde wig would be more convincing.”
Hmm we wonder if Wesley will take a break from blowing things up as a future Expendable, and consider David’s offer?
Ah, this is all too bad! We were hoping this biographical film would the year’s brilliant, heartbreaking work! Oh well.
All this does is confirm how much we still miss you Diana, and how irreplaceable you are!
[Image via Ecosse Films.]