There can't be many people who haven't heard of Beatrix Potter, but not many know about the life of this great children's writer.

"The Tales of Peter Rabbit", which was first published in 1902, was an immediate bestseller, and to this day "The Original Peter Rabbit Books" remain her legacy to children all over the world.

Beatrix Potter (Renee Zellweger) was born in 1866 and died in 1943.

This story travels though her life from 1902 to approximately 1913, as she became a publishing phenomenon, falls in love with her publisher Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor) and ultimately becomes a very successful land conservationist.

How I wanted to love this film, but I could only manage to mildly like it.

More often than not this sort of story can be over sentimentalised, when brought to the big screen.

So it may come as a surprise that the main problem here is its lack of emotion.

This is a rather sad story and given the slightest nudge my hanky usually appears, but not here.

Zelleweger has developed a rather unattractive expression, which looks as if she has just sucked on a lemon, thus making it impossible to think one man would want to marry her let alone two.

That said Lucy Boynton, who plays young Beatrix, is fantastic.

There are truly delightful scenes when Beatrix is painting and her characters come alive. Unfortunately these are few and far between, making the film impossibly boring for children.

This is odd given that director Chris Noonan wrote and directed the delightful Babe (1995). An American writes the script and clearly needs a lesson from Julian Fellowes in how to write the language of that era.

Another missed opportunity is the shots of the Lake Districts, one of the most beautiful parts of England. Instead of giving us sweeping panoramic vistas, the scenes are mostly set around the family's holiday cottage.

Emily Watson is brilliant as Norman's sister, but I wish the delightful Phyllida Law as their mother had more screen time.

At the Potters' Christmas party when Beatrix starts to tell everyone the beginning of her latest story, it is the little maid Jane played by Jennifer Castle who shows the most pleasure at her tale.

I saw Castle in a short film called Little Claus and Big Claus, which went on to win the Rhode Island Film Festival Audience Award, and though it is only a tiny part here, she is definitely a young lady to look out for.

It's nostalgic to be reminded of how one could get on a stream train once it was moving, but not enough depth is given to the character of Beatrix.

For instance she didn't just draw what she saw, but she would dissect dead rabbits and many other small creatures to really understand how they moved.

This was probably thought to be too grisly to portray, but it would have made her much less bland.

At one point at the end of the party they do give you a hint of how the Beatrix Potter pottery started, but there is so much that has been missed out about this fascinating lady.