Lucy (2003)

MOW about the life of Lucille Ball, focusing on the loving yet tumultuous relationship with Desi Arnaz.

Director:

Glenn Jordan

Writers:

Katie Ford, T.S. Cook

Stars:

Rachel York, Danny Pino, Ann Dowd

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rachel York	...	Lucille Ball
Danny Pino	...	Desi Arnaz
Ann Dowd	...	Dede
LaChanze	...	Harriett
Madeline Zima	...	Teen Lucy
Rebecca Hobbs	...	Vivian Vance
Merv Smith	...	Grandpa Fred
Russell Newman	...	Bill Frawley
Zoe Carides	...	Lolita De Acha
Christopher Brougham	...	Adult Freddy (as Chris Brougham)
Ray Woolf	...	Ed Sedgwick
Peter Mochrie	...	Don Sharpe
Andrew Robertt	...	Bob Carroll Jr. (as Andrew Mitchell)
Lauchlin MacDonald	...	Jess Oppenheimer (as Lachlan Macdonald)
Theresa Healey	...	Madelyn Pugh

Storyline

After her grandfather is financially ruined in a lawsuit over a shooting accident, Lucille 'Lucy' Ball pursues her dream of fame as actress. She succeeds in comical parts, often the girl who gets the cake in her face. Then she meets and soon marries the love of her life, Desiderio 'Desi' . Ricky, Latin band leader and aristocratic son of an exiled Cuban mayor. Desi proves a business genius, who gets a revolutionary method adopted to gain production control of the sitcom "I Love Lucy", a format devised for him and Lucy to star in. Despite offspring, their family life soon gets into stormy waters, mainly due to his infidelity, gambling and temper.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | nickname as title | lucille ball character | desi arnaz character | love | 

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Taglines:

When the comedy stopped...real life began.

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

CBS Primetime Movies

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 May 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lucy

Filming Locations:

Auckland, New Zealand

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS, Film Factory Lucy Productions Ltd., Holiday Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Numerous quotes belonging to various "I Love Lucy" characters are out of place.

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Quotes

Desi Arnaz: [after parking valet brings their car and calls Desi "Mr. Ball", Desi talks to Lucy] I don't want to be known as "Mister Ball !"
Lucy: If he'd called you "Mister Balls", you'd have given him a $20 tip!

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Connections

References The Untouchables (1959)

User Reviews

Playing fast and loose with history

"Lucy" the movie, failed to live up to the promise of it's commercials, which featured recreated scenes from the famous "I Love Lucy" series.

The over long film juggled facts and dates to the point that any real Lucy fan watching couldn't help but spend the entire 3 hours raging about all that they got wrong or changed.

So Buster Keaton readied the couple for their vaudeville act? Funny, Desi's friend Pepito the clown has always been credited in every biography of the couple I've ever read. They've got Lucy as a blonde years after she went red - where was the movie "Too many Girls" for which MGM imported Desi from NY, and during the making of which the couple began dating?

Yeah, I'm nit-picking, but the film was so filled with little blunders like that! The kind of things that drive any hard core Lucy fan crazy!

I could've over looked much of this had the producers provided me with a more believable Lucy - but Miss York frankly did not cut it. Lucy was as famous for her beauty as for her talent, and Miss York is simply not even in her league.

With a running time of 3 hours, they had time to get it right - that they chose not to do so amazes me! All in all, a really tedious waste of viewing time. If you love Lucy - Avoid it!