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Critics slate Lohan's portrayal of Liz Taylor

“Drinking games were made for movies like this."

Lindsay Lohan's turn as Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor is not proving to be a hit with the US critical fraternity.

The biopic 'Liz & Dick' stars Lohan as Taylor and Grant Bowler as Richard Burton, tracking the tribulations of their stormy, boozy relationship.

But reviews in so far have been pretty much unanimous in their scorn.

The Hollywood Reporter is particularly savage, with writer Tim Goodman tearing the performances to pieces.

“It’s an instant classic of unintentional hilarity,” he says.

“Drinking games were made for movies like this. And the best part is that it gets worse as it goes on, so in the right company with the right beverages, 'Liz & Dick' could be unbearably hilarious toward the tail end of the 90-minute running time.

“By the time Lohan is playing mid-80s Taylor and it looks like a lost 'Saturday Night Live' skit, your body may be cramped by convulsions.”

Newsday too were rather unkind, with Verne Gay surmising that 'Lohan's no Taylor (not that anyone is or ever could be), but poor Linds doesn't stand a chance. As seen here, her skills are rudimentary – made rustier by a long absence and a lot of other extra-curricular activities'.

Meanwhile, Maureen Ryan, critic at the Huffington Post, added: “'Liz and Dick' is badly paced, cheap-looking and encrusted with a tinkly, preposterous soundtrack that is designed to make viewers go insane.



“It's also littered with exposition-heavy segments in which Liz and Dick reminisce about their past, perhaps from beyond the grave. In those segments, they wear matching black ensembles and essentially narrate their own lives, much to their own amusement. In doing so, they make these rich and eventful lives sound a lot less interesting than they actually were.”

But not all critics have been so aggrieved by Lohan's performance.

Joanne Ostrow of the Denver Post wrote: “No matter what you think of the actors, the great period stylings, not to mention Cleopatra-period costumes, make this jewel-encrusted, cocktail-soaked, often tragic saga a rip-roaring good time.”