Naomi Watts’ Princess Diana biopic is getting terrible reviews ahead of its November release date.
Although initial buzz for director Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Diana was fairly positive when the project was in production, it would appear that critics haven’t been impressed with the endeavor. Judging from the reviews, the movie may not be worth the price of admission.
Out of the six reviews presently available at Rotten Tomatoes, only one of them is positive. The film’s score at the movie-oriented website is currently perched at 17 percent . This certainly wasn’t the reception Naomi Watts and eOne Films were hoping to receive.
The Guardian reviewer Peter Bradshaw was definitely one of the people who had a problem with Diana . The critic seems to have taken particular issue with the film’s stilted dialogue.
“An excruciatingly well-intentioned, reverential and sentimental biopic about her troubled final years, laced with bizarre cardboard dialogue – a tabloid fantasy of how famous and important people speak in private,” Bradshaw explained in his critique .
Emma Dibdin over at Digital Spy seemed to have a problem with the way Naomi Watts portrayed Princess Diana in the biopic. According to Dibdin, the actress didn’t do a very good job of bringing her to life on the big screen.
“In trying desperately (and understandably) to portray Diana accurately and reverentially, Watts has neglected to portray a person,” she explained.
Despite all of the negative reviews the film has received ahead of its release in the United States, Time Out London critic Robert Jobson wasn’t as hard on Diana as his colleagues. He even described the film as “very watchable.”
“This film may not be wholly accurate, there may be some gaping holes in the script and it may fall down on authenticity and Watts may not be the perfect carbon copy of the late Diana — but as a charming, impossible but ultimately tragic love story it works and I thoroughly recommend it,” Jobson wrote.
Naomi Watts and director Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Diana hits theaters in the US on November 1. What do you think about the negative reviews?
[Image via Eone Films]