Johnny Depp's 'Jeanne Du Barry' leaves critics unimpressed

Critics are unforgiving of Johnny Depp's royal comeback with Jeanne Du Barry after the highly-publicized Amber Heard trial last year.

Directed by Maïwenn, the French-language movie depicts 59-year-old Depp as King Louis XV and serves as the Oscar nominee's return to the big screen after a scandalous few years.

However, the reviews poked holes in the rosy picture drawn by some for the movie.

The Hollywood Reporter critic Jordan Mintzer wrote, "Depp's casting offers a few early thrills and then mostly yawns, with Depp dishing out what feels like a total of a dozen lines in respectable French, while otherwise remaining mute."

"His performance isn't bad, and neither is Maïwenn's in the lead role," wrote Mintzer, adding, "But the two of them, like the movie, rarely get our pulse racing."

Ben Croll for IndieWire opined, "Though performing wholly in French and given ample screen time, the American star [Depp] leaves a strangely scant impression, offering a dim and muted turn that plays off his wider reputation in often fascinating ways."

Telegraph's reviewer Robbie Collin penned, "Depp is hardly the first Hollywood outcast to find work in Europe, but it would be a stretch to say this feels like the first spark of a glorious comeback."