The first reviews for Nicole Kidman's 'Grace of Monaco', which opened at the Cannes Film Festival haven't been kind.

Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian said that the "film is so awe-inspiringly wooden that it is basically a fire-risk".

Of Kidman's performance as the former Grace Kelly-turned-Princess, Bradshaw writes that the Aussie 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".

The London Telegraph gave the flick one star, calling the film a "fantastically silly melodrama", and the script "thoroughly awful", News.com.au reported.

Calling Kidman a "terrifically talented actress", The Telegraph said, "this is a role built on naivety: one of the few things she can't convincingly express".

The Hollywood Reporter agreed, branding the film "dull".

The publication did, however, give Kidman some props, stating that she's "a good physical match for Kelly, and brings an intensity that elevates even a shallow script with shades of emotional complexity".