Pete Doherty‘s acting debut in Confession Of A Child Of The Century has been given scathing reviews by critics.
The film, which also stars Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lily Cole, was shown to the world’s press at the Cannes film festival over the weekend and got a universal thumbs down.
In the film, Doherty plays Octave, a young romantic who falls into depression and debauchery after discovering his mistress (Cole) is unfaithful. It is his first foray into acting, and, according to the reviews, it should also be his last. You can watch the trailer for the film by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and clicking.
The Guardian labeled Doherty’s acting as full of “shambling amateurisim”, while Screen Daily said that Doherty delivers “a wooden performance” in “a turgid adaptation”.
The Hollywood Reporter was a little kinder, but only in that they chose to blame the film’s director Sylvie Verheyde rather than Doherty. They wrote of the former Libertines man: “It’s hard to recall an actor looking more uncomfortable on screen”, but adds, “it was perhaps too much to expect a first-timer to shoulder a demanding lead”.
The harshest of all were Cine Vue, who called Doherty “a sixth former who hasn’t learnt his lines for drama class” and said he “joins a long line of successful musicians and pop stars who have become truly awful actors”.
To read a new interview with Doherty, pick up the new issue of NME, which is on newsstands tomorrow (May 23) or available digitally.