Naomi Watts is a good actress. There, I've got that out of the way. Although originally born in Shoreham, Kent, Watts began her career in 1986 appearing in The Love Alone, before setting on that familiar path of Australia-based actors soaps. She then went on to supporting roles in films such as Flirting (good film, you should see it) before properly exploding onto the Hollywood scene with David Lynch's surreal mind-f**k Mulholland Drive. Since that role, she's had an up-and-down career, churning out both brilliant films and absolute clunkers. She's obviously extremely talented you don't get Oscar nominations for no reason but like most actors outside of Daniel Day-Lewis, can occasionally fall foul of poor decision-making or a bad performance. From the advance reviews it appears she's struck disaster again with Diana. For my money, this is a shame most of the time, she can be relied upon to deliver excellent performances, and I hope this article makes that apparent. Of course I am also obliged to point out her poor performances, and Diana not-withstanding (I don't mention it in this because I, like most of you, haven't seen it), there are a number of those sprinkled among the gems. So without further ado, let's get down to our weekly column. Keep in mind, there's a
SPOILER WARNING in effect.