Matthew McConaughey film booed at Cannes

Matthew McConaughey attends a press conference for the film The Sea of Trees at Cannes. Photo/AP

A film about two men who find each other in a Japanese "suicide forest" has been loudly booed at its initial screenings to media at Cannes.

The Sea of Trees - which stars Matthew McConaughey, Ken Watanabe and Naomi Watts - was greeted harshly by critics and was loudly booed.

Variety called the film, which co-stars Naomi Watts, "a risibly long-winded drama". The Hollywood Reporter slammed it as "woefully sentimental and maudlin".

Indiewire called it "Gus Van Sant's worst movie".

"It's hard to tell how much credit Van Sant can take for so many missteps when the movie's chief problem lies with Chris Sparling's screenplay, which never strays far from a blunt approach," wrote the website's reviewer.

McConaughey's remarkable comeback streak in recent years - the so called "McConaissance" - appears to have hit a bump with the Gus Van Sant film.

When asked about the negative reception during a press conference, McConaughey defended his audience's decision to express their opinion.

"Anyone has as much right to boo as they do to ovate," The Guardian reported him as saying.

"I'm happy to be here. I like the film. It was a happy day to hear that it had got in. It's exciting to come support work that I got to do with these people. This is fun, this is dessert - no matter what. We've declared now; thanks for having us. We enjoyed it."

While the 45-year-old star's latest offering may have not received the praise he was hoping for, McConaughey will be able to brush of his critics and return to his wife Camila Alves and children Levi, six, Vida, five, and Livingston, two, whom he credits with making him happy every single day.

He explained: "I get to wake up next to someone who I know loves me the way she does - my wife - who gave birth to our three beautiful, healthy children.

"I get to live in a nice place, and I have things to look forward to every day - work, play, and sometimes nothing at all."

Watch a trailer for The Sea of Trees below:

- Agencies