Naomi Watts 'Diana' biopic deemed 'cheap,' 'atrocious,' 'awful'

Critics were not impressed with the biopic about the late Princess Diana that premiered in London Thursday.

Naomi Watts stars as the former Princess of Wales in "Diana," a film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel that centers around Lady Di's romantic relationship with Doctor Hasnat Khan .

"'Diana' can only be described as a fabulously awful film," wrote the Daily Mirror's David Edwards on the movie ranking site Rotten Tomatoes where the film currently holds a 17 percent (or rotten) score.

"The Queen of Hearts has been recast as a sad-sack singleton that even Bridget Jones would cross the street to avoid," Edwards added.

"It's hardly fascinating. It doesn't offer new facts about the Princess's life. And it certainly doesn't explain her complexity or contradictions," said David Gritten of the Daily Telegraph.

But while most reviewers agree that the film is not great, many admit that the dialogue and not Watt's performance is to blame for the flop.

"Watts does give a very brave performance that should not be under-estimated given the poverty of the dialogue and the pressure of the part," wrote Screen International's Fionnuala Halligan.

"Even when these lines are delivered by the fragrant Naomi Watts, doing her level best with a squirmingly embarrassing script, this film is still atrocious and intrusive," wrote the Times.

Maybe the film was set up for failure since the beginning. Kan himself had previously chastised the movie and even said he refuses to see it.

"The awful truth is that, 16 years after that terrible day in 1997, Diana has died another awful death," the Guardian wrote.