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Reviews
Being the Ricardos (2021)
In "Being the Ricardos" we don't really get a chance to find out if 'we Love Lucy', but boy; how we love Lucille.
When the casting of Nicole Kidman was announced as Lucille Ball, I, like many raised my eyebrow - Kidman is a masterful actor, one of the most ambitious and adventurous of her generation. She is also, known for subtlety and naturalism. I thought to myself "how is she going to pull of playing essentially, a clown?". That was until I read up on the project - this is not a film adaptation of "I Love Lucy", it is not Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem starring as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. It is in fact a look at the behind the scenes troubles and issues within the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's marriage. I went into watching this film expecting it for what it was - a drama. I knew not to expect a laugh-a-minute comedy in which Kidman and Bardem recreate classic scenes which are, in mine and many people's opinion, inimitable.
Set across the space of one week from the table read on Monday morning to the shooting of the episode on Friday evening; it is written with a compressed timeline in which we see quite frankly, what many people would consider the week from hell. There is a threat of Lucille being outed as a communist, the Arnaz's must face studio executives, producers and sponsors with the news that Ball is pregnant and they want a storyline in which the character is pregnant - something that had never been done on TV at the time. At the same time, rumours are rushing around the media that Desi is cheating on his wife. This is presented in a linear; Monday to Friday narrative with some flashbacks that portray some of the biggest moments in Ball's career and her relationship with Arnaz. There are also scenes in which a documentary-type set-up is used. The 'interviews' are with older versions of Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer and Madelyn Pugh (played respectively by Ronny Cox, John Rubinstein and Linda Lavin). The film has pace, efficiency and effectiveness - running at 125 minutes; it really does fly by. The weakest part of the layout is in fact, the 'interview' type scenes; they slow the action down and feel like an unnecessary way to inform the audience of what has just happened.
The writing is very strong; it features all of Aaron Sorkin's famous wit, pointedness and intelligence and it avoids falling into the patronising nature of "The Trial of the Chicago 7", in which the whole film felt as if Sorkin was saying 'I am much smarter than anyone else'. He writes every character with detail, precision and heart - he goes bold with his decision that it is not "I Love Lucy" but instead a look at the geniuses behind the show. Lucille especially is written as a perfectionist, a slave-driver and incredibly dead-pan, this creates a perfect contrast to the clown we see in the TV show. I will now watch "I Love Lucy" with a new appreciation of Ball's genius. There are a couple of moments in which the language feels to modern in lines such as "I literally just said that." and "Don't gaslight me." These were not phrases of the time.
The performances are outstanding across the board. Nicole Kidman's Lucille Ball is one hundred percent believable, lived in and heartfelt. The performance is an impressive mix of immersion and technique. One thing I've always admired about Kidman is the ability to hide her technique and make everything feel spontaneous and completely in the moment. In playing Ball, she is able to show what a fabulous, methodical and technical actor she is. Lucille was incredibly technical in her approach to comedy and her process and Kidman takes every line, every moment, every beat and is a revelation. I think this is probably her strongest performance in a film since her 2012 pulpy and sweaty performance in "The Paperboy". She is long overdue a second Academy Award and is well deserving for this performance. Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz is charming, loveable and incredibly determined. His drive to make the show work is incredibly infectious and we are with him every step of the way. There are strong supporting turns from J. K. Simmons and Nina Arianda as William Frawley and Vivian Vance (Ball and Arnaz's co-stars in "I Love Lucy" and the rest of the ensemble are brilliant.
"Being the Ricardos" isn't "I Love Lucy" - it doesn't really even feature more than five minutes of "I Love Lucy"; but those scenes are portrayed with authenticity and a fabulous Lucy, Ricky, Ethel and Fred from the respective performers. The film is, in fact, a look at a marriage, past mistakes or decisions that might not be entirely appropriate as we age and most of all, the masterful perfectionist and technically brilliant woman that became America's sweetheart. I think I love Lucille more than Lucy.
4 stars out of 5.
Spencer (2021)
A beautifully shot, heavy-handed mess.
Princess Diana is one of the most beloved figures of the twentieth century; her charity work and humanisation of the monarchy, along with her untimely and tragic death cemented her place as a legend in history. One would think that many movies would have been produced about her life as it would be a box office smash and a fabulous star vehicle for a number of stars. Could it be that her death is just too recent and sensitive to public memory that no-one has attempted to really examine the real Diana? The Diana we saw outside; the compassionate peoples princess and Diana behind closed doors; incredibly damaged and in a toxic situation. It is admirable that Pablo Larrain has tried to avoid portraying Diana with some kind of rose tint glass that glosses over all the problems.
The result of this is a heavy-handed, cliched metaphor mess. Larrain has gone completely in the opposite direction to making Diana a saint - we see her vomit on a regular basis and within the space of half an hour, I was entirely sure that this version Diana should be sectioned as she is a risk to everyone around her and herself. There is a constant dramatic irony in which Diana compares herself to Anne Boleyn; the second wife of Henry VIII; beheaded because the King discovered an affair "but it was in fact him having the affair"; a line that Diana speaks. It has the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. The Anne Boleyn metaphor lasts for a huge amount of the movie, before moving onto the same metaphor - only this time with pheasants about to be slaughtered for Christmas dinner. The other members of the Royal Family are portrayed with the emotion of one of the body snatchers (with exception to her children); this takes out any of the interest of her push-pull struggle with the institution and the people at the top of the chain; as they are never really human. There is nothing there that makes them believable characters, regardless as to whether they are real or not. On a positive; I know the ending has been controversial and divisive, but personally - I very much liked it. Without giving anything away; it is something that many of us wished Diana could have done.
The performances are bizarre. Kristen Stewart portrays Diana with a lot of commitment, she really goes all in; the result is a mannered and unnatural performance. Stewart comes across as if she is trying to do a impression of Diana as opposed to becoming her; it's all very technical and you never really lose her in the part. The usually excellent Timothy Spall almost floats around as if he is a cross between a character from "The Shining" and The Ghost of Christmas Past. Sally Hawkins gives a fine performance but is underused and Jack Farthing; whilst giving a very grounded and solid performance does nothing that resembles Prince Charles in the slightest.
The cinematography is stunning however; every single shot just pops and whilst from a storytelling point of view, it is rather frustrating to see Diana aimlessly wander around the estate numerous times, from a cinematic viewpoint, it is stunning. There is a scene in which Diana visits her old home; stunning. Jonny Greenwood's score is also hauntingly beautiful; probably my favourite score of the year.
Pablo Larrain must be applauded for the way his film has been shot, his ambition and his bravery at approaching to look at Diana as something other than a saint. On the other hand; his film also has the subtlety of a Mack truck and poorly written characters that are either played as if they are a MadTV sketch, something devoid of any human emotion or a character that doesn't resemble their real-life counterpart in either looks nor manner.
2 stars out of 5.
House of Gucci (2021)
"House of Gucci"; a fun, stylish, deliciously fashionable tale that leads to a rushed and undeveloped conclusion.
This film is dubbed as the film which tells the true story of how Patrizia Reggiani plots to kill her husband Maurizio Gucci. To me, this is slightly inaccurate. At two hours and thirty eight minutes, we do not enter this particular area of the plot until over two hours in. The film instead focuses on the development of Patrizia and Maurizio's relationship, the way in which she then manipulates her way into the running of the company and then the fallout from her meddling. This is not a negative point at all, the issue that makes this negative is the fact that when it is time to portray the major marketing point of the film- they actually have run out of time to develop motive, intention and a credible reason for Patrizia to engage two individuals for this heinous crime.
The weakness in this picture comes from the fact that less and less detail is given in the writing as the plot progresses; a huge amount of development is put into the courtship of Patrizia and Maurizio and these are the most delightful scenes of the film which contain the perfect mix of realistic and life-like dialogue and corny speech which you would expect to find in 1950s and 60s European Romance Movies. This is perfectly fitting for the romantic, glamorous and movie-like courtship that makes a wealthy young man with the world at his feet, fall for an attractive, charismatic truck-owned business' daughter. As the film progresses we are given a chance to see the manipulative and deceitful nature of Patrizia as she plays the Gucci's off against each other, ultimately culminating in a massive fall-out amongst them. And then - everything feels rushed; the conclusion of the situation appears out of nowhere and before we know it Patrizia has found herself in a position to commit an unforgivable crime with no real rhyme or reason, other than the fact that she is a little irked. Come the final scene of the picture, it feels as if they've run out of time and had to tie it all up very quickly.
This is through no fault of the actors - Lady Gaga gives a gutsy, charismatic and determined performance - when she isn't on the screen, you miss her. I did find however that later on in the film, her performance became very demonstrative and over-acted; this does feel like a fall-out from the poorly structured scenes in the latter part of the film. Adam Driver is grounded and subtle as Maurizio with great on-screen chemistry with Gaga. There a strong supporting turns from Salma Hayek and Jeremy Irons with Al Pacino gives a very strong turn as Aldo Gucci - Maurizio's uncle.
The weakest performance comes from Jared Leto as Pablo Gucci; he does not only chew the scenery, but he swallows it, furniture and all. The performance feels like a cross between an audition for the gig of Mario and a Saturday Night Live sketch. He never feels truly in the moment and every single line is played to the back row...of Wembley Arena, not just the cinema.
I found myself leaving the cinema conflicted and confused at to what Ridley Scott was focusing on when creating this picture; is it the sensationalised murder? Is it on how deceptive people can be? Is it a film about how businesses need to move with the times to stay relevant? All in all however, it is a fun few hours with a performance from Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani that Faye Dunaway wished could have been the outcome of her performance as Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest".
***1/2 stars out of 5.