Diana (2013, Oliver Hirschbiegel)

Rating: 7 out of 10

Very enjoyable portrait about love, compassion, discontent and choice. Naomi Watts is a constant delight on screen and she shines brighter than ever in gorgeous gowns and to-die-for hair-and-make-up. The brunette wig sequences show that Naomi's beauty is omni--oh, what's the word? Breathtaking? Exquisite?

During sad moments, Watts takes the sympathetic Princess Di and sheds a tear to remind us why the Princess was so loved. Without this wonderful and very human performance, "Diana" would not be as touching.

 The film is roughly shot in the beginning but by its end I could list a handful of scenes that were so effective at summarizing the woes of a Princess that was forever in the public eye until her woe was at last gone and the world inherited her mourning about this bittersweet existence that all of us struggle to understand. The musical score was great, and there are plenty of lines from the dialogue that I loved as well as plenty of picturesque frames.

I hope Diana found that elusive garden of love, despite her tragic route of escape not being the most desirable one. Naomi Watts admittedly wishes this picture about a "gorgeous creature" had been received better, and so do I, for it has a softness to it that carried me vicariously along into Diana's dreams. She fell, yet flew. I fell in love with her dreams.