Review of Diana (2013) by Foxgrove — 01 Nov 2013

Poor Naomi Watts the writers have gone and rained on her parade for what looked like sure fire Oscar win for the over due actress now doesn't even seem likely to get her a nomination. This has nothing whatsoever to do with her portrayal of the iconic princess but has everything to do with a woman's own screenplay complete with unspeakable dialogue and, for the most part, lacklustre direction.

Watts' committed performance is actually very good and she captures Diana's body language, mannerisms and vocal inflection perfectly. The main issue is that the script makes the central love story totally ordinary and uninteresting.

To this end Naveen Andrews dull performance doesn't help and a lack of chemistry between the two leads is palpable. The film is watchable and not quite the debacle that dismissive critics have suggested, but a decent dullness is the keynote.

Iconic images from newspapers and magazines are captured and integrated effectively, and some information was new to me. The film does pick up slightly towards the end and the closing scene is moving, but obviously not in the tragic way it was in real life.