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Contrary to popular belief, we don’t enjoy bashing Lindsay Lohan for the heck of it. We’d like to see her get her act together, and we really wanted to like Liz & Dick.

It just wasn’t good. At all.

The actress’ absurdly-hyped-up Lifetime TV movie was allegedly “based on a true story.” If so, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s story was likely much more interesting.

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We know it’s Lifetime. They’re not trying to win any awards with melodramatic, overly-acted films.

Therein lies Liz & Dick‘s biggest problem, however: When it came to Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor, there was no drama or acting to speak of.

 

There was just LiLo, phoning it in and/or utterly lacking for direction on how to embody an icon.

We’ve been reminded for months about the parallels between Lohan and Taylor, former child stars growing up in the spotlight with tumultuous private lives making headlines.

There was nothing resembling Elizabeth Taylor about this movie, though, only Lindsay Lohan with ’60s hair and makeup, talking in her own raspy voice.

Emotionally and even visually (despite the costume department’s considerable efforts), it just didn’t cut it. Her performance was empty from start to finish.

One gets the sense that there’s still a vulnerable quality to Lohan, as was the case with Taylor. She either can’t or chose not to bring that to the forefront, however.

Grant Bowler wasn’t that much better as Richard Burton, who brooded in self-pity so much that one never got the sense that the two were such soulmates.

Rather than chronicling the ups and downs of a complex relationship from a bygone era that paved the way for so much celebrity gossipLiz & Dick just dragged on.

There were some heated arguments and a lot of recreations of the movies they co-starred in. That’s about it. Taylor and Burton deserved better here.

It’s unclear why she didn’t come out of her shell, but not unlike Lindsay’s own troubled life, Liz & Dick squandered its promise and wasted its potential.