Nicole Kidman's new movie Grace Of Monaco has been panned by critics after opening the Cannes Film Festival in France on Wednesday (14May14).

The actress' latest work has been criticized by Monaco's royal family and now film reviewers at Cannes are picking apart her performance as actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly.

Peter Bradshaw of Britain's Guardian serves up one of the harshest reviews of director Olivier Dahan's movie, calling it "so awe-inspiringly wooden that it is basically a fire-risk".

Of Kidman's performance, he states the Australian star spends her time "wafting around the Palace with dewy-eyed features and slightly parted lips which make her look like a grown-up Bambi after a couple of cocktails, suddenly remembering his mother’s violent death in the forest."

Meanwhile, the London Telegraph has given the film one star, calling it "a fantastically silly melodrama", insisting Kidman, though "terrifically talented" cannot "convincingly express... a role built on naivety".

The Hollywood Reporter's reviewer calls the film "dull", adding, "It’s a stiff, stagey, thuddingly earnest affair, which has generated far more drama off screen than on".

Prince Albert of Monaco and his sisters slammed Kidman's portrayal of their mother in a statement released last week (ends09May14), calling the film a "farce".