Diana: Last Days of a Princess

Despite the fact that Diana: Last Days of a Princess was respectfully produced with noble intentions, it's still hard to recommend this 2007 TV-movie for any but the most ardent and morbidly committed devotees of the late British princess. What point—apart from commercial considerations—is there in meticulously dramatizing the well-known final days of Diana, as she widened the gap between herself and the British throne, freely pursuing her fateful romance with jetsetter Dodi Al Fayed? Awkwardly combining tabloid reality with "you-are-there" realism, Diana: Last Days of a Princess features real interviews with many who were close to Diana, actors playing the same people in dramatic TV-movie recreations of pivotal events and conversations, and speculative scenes of private moments based on research. Actress Genevieve O'Reilly (who bears only passing resemblance to Diana) does her best, and the film takes viewers into the high-society world of Dodi Al Fayed (Patrick Baladi) and his rich, domineering father (who saw Diana as a prestigious and newsworthy catch for his son), but it's nearly impossible to escape the sensation of posthumous eavesdropping. Gratefully, the film avoids the grisly reality of the fateful Parisian car-crash that claimed the lives of Diana, Dodi, and their driver, Henri Paul (the event is offscreen), but everything leading up to the crash is dramatized in considerable detail, with an emphasis on Diana's personal crises (looming divorce, the acrimony of the royal family, the glaring public spotlight, etc.). If this qualifies as exploitation (and on some level it must), the overall production is admittedly dignified—still, director Richard Dale's Diana: Last Days of a Princess remains oddly off-putting, perhaps because it seems to serve no valid purpose. Diana fanatics will see the film anyway, of course; for others this will have little appeal. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include an audio commentary with director Dale, a behind-the-scenes "making-of" featurette, interviews of Dale and O'Reilly, and a diagram of the crash scene. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an unnecessary biopic.] (J. Shannon)