Being the Ricardos
Directed by Aaron Sorkin
Written by Aaron Sorkin
Starring Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem
Release Date December 21st, 2021
The talent of writer-director Aaron Sorkin is undeniable. Sorkin is a man of words, of wit, and caustic observation. I have no intention of diminishing Mr Sorkin’s talent but I have to quarrel with his choice of subjects. While Sorkin’s rat-a-tat banter and scintillating discourse on important issues is usually very welcome when providing a voice to good hearted politicians on The West Wing or when creating a recognizable version of a social media titan like Mark Zuckerberg, under the strict direction of David Fincher, in The Social Network. However, having that same style saddled onto the legend of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez feels completely out of place.
There is a deep disconnect between Sorkin’s style of wordy, fast talking, tete a tete and the fall down funny of I Love Lucy. I’m sure there are parallels between typical Sorkin characters and the staff of I Love Lucy but Sorkin’s picture of Lucille Ball, as portrayed by Nicole Kidman, is shockingly humorless, often cruel, and downright joyless. Even when she’s creating comedy, Sorkin’s Lucille Ball approaches comedy with an architect-like dryness as if she were mathematically constructing comedy that she didn’t particularly enjoy.
Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here.
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