Diana

This a horribly chauvinistic movie that portrayed the late Lady Di as a simpering, wanting, lonely woman. It minimised her social and humanitarian work and impact, the footnotes at the end of the movie is a joke, when director Oliver Hirschbiegel and writer Stephen Jeffreys barely spent any time on screen regarding her work with land-mines and other charitable organisations. Based on the book by Kate Snell, "Diana: Her Last Love", this movie absolutely fails the Bechdel's Test. Naomi Watts has her moments of brilliance but this is a far cry from her Oscar-nominated work in last year's "The Impossible". Even her Oscar-baiting scene felt weak and uninspired. She could not keep in character throughout the movie and frequently we see glimpses of Watts on the screen rather than the Queen of Hearts. But one of the biggest fault in the failure of this movie is the casting. Naveen Andrews is grossly miscast. He and Watts have zero chemistry and yet we the audience are supposed to believe that this man is the love of her live? So much so that Lady Diana will act like a giggly school girl just experiencing her first love? Perhaps if we could buy into that relationship, this movie would be more believable. Sadly, both Andrews and Watts have as much chemistry as two dead, cold fishes sitting on ice in a market. This movie would have been much better if we got a more in depth portrayal of the woman behind the public mask: "The Queen" and even to a certain extent "The Iron Lady" were both star vehicles for their actress (Both won Oscars) because they gave us layers and layers and complications of these famous faces. What we have here for Watts is just a single facade and slight glimpse of the smart, powerful, manipulative woman within. Watts will be a long shot for this year's Oscar race depending on the crop of Actresses this year, and with Streep, Dench, Blanchett and even Bullock already on the horizon, she will have a better chance another time.