Early Reviews for Princess Diana Film Not Flattering

Main qualms from critics were the lackluster dialogue and historical inaccuracies.

The reviews are in for the new Princess Diana biopic and so far, they are anything but royally good.

The Oliver Hirschbiegel directed "Diana" drew criticism from one critic that said the film's star, Naomi Watts didn't look enough like the princess and that the film was more a "working title romcom" than a successful attempt to bring the late princess' last years to the big screen.

"Watts gives an intense and volatile performance as the princess," critic Geoffrey McNab said in his review on the UK Independent. "The problem, though, is that she doesn’t really resemble the character she is playing, and the feature shifts wildly in tone."

Other main qualms from critics were the lackluster dialogue and historical inaccuracies.

"The major problem, predictably, comes with the dialogue, which involves characters telling each other things they already know," critic David Gitten said in his review in the Telegraph. “'I am a heart surgeon!' declares heart surgeon Khan. On another occasion: 'You’re the most famous woman in the world.' Yes, we get it."

The murky reviews hardly come as a surprise. The London premiere was a more somber event and lacked the celebrity push seen on many red carpet movie debuts. One royal expert told TODAY that it's possible many celebs feared support of the movie could lead to a personal attack.

In late August, Watts voiced her original skepticism of the role as well. Watts told the UK's Sunday Times that she turned down the role on two separate occasions, for fear of how Diana's sons, princes William and Harry, would feel about it.

"The biggest reason that made me pause was how the princes were going to feel about this," she told the Sunday Times."There was actually quite an eerie moment in London when I did see Prince William in a restaurant, and I got very nervous, because if I caught his eye I didn't want to interpret a look and think he had a negative feeling about this idea, so I made sure not to look. I do care deeply about how the princes feel, of course. But it was a story that was bound to be told at some point, and it's possibly fresher than people expected."

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Contact Us