| MONSTER |
 2003 - USA / GermanyDirector: Patty Jenkins -Reviewed by Linda
Aileen, or "Lee" as she is know by her few friends, is certainly something. She's the type of woman that talks too loud in divey bars, smokes and drinks too much, and comes on to just about any man that could pay her for a trick. If she asked you for money on the street, you would look away uncomfortably. If she came on the bus, you would silently hope that she would not sit next to you. But as icky as she is, first-time director Patty Jenkins paints her as sympathetic. Much of her crassness, her testiness, her overall unpleasantness, can be attested to her childhood of sexual abuse, a cruelly uncaring family, and the fact that she has fended for herself since age 13 by hustling as a prostitute. She has finally hit rock bottom. One last drink, she thinks. But that last cheap beer ends up changing her life. At the gay bar that she stumbles into, Lee ends up crossing paths with the equally desperate and lonely Selby (Christina Ricci), who is barely confident enough to start a conversation, much less hit on another woman. Selby, a petite, cute young woman, with a nonetheless painfully shy demeanor and a clunky arm cast to make her even more awkward, cracks Lee's tough-talking facade. A couple dates later, and the odd pair are a couple. Of course "bliss" (in this case a cheap motel room and a six pack to "party") doesn't last long, as one night Lee is brutally raped by a john, and ends up killing him in self-defense. The incident, which she keeps secret, sets off a simmering rage against men that has built up over the years, and soon Lee finds that the rage overpowers her tolerance for the tricks. And thus begins of a series of murders by the woman who became known as "America's first female serial killer." Monster is an intimate indie, a no-frills film that is carried by the powerhouse acting of Theron, with strong support by Ricci. I found myself thinking of the similar-in-tone award-winning film Boys Don't Cry. Both films are carried by amazing lead performances (Hilary Swank totally deserved her Oscar for Boys) that blind you to the fact that the surrounding production is, at best, simply "good." With a no-frills approach, director Jenkins plays it safe. There is nothing stylistically interesting or unique about Monster, making the film ultimately memorable for Theron's acting alone. But in this case, that is fine. The image of Theron's Lee stuck in my head for days afterwards: her beady, desperate eyes; her brash swagger; her uncomfortably loud voice; the way she flipped her hair back; and of course the unnerving fact that she had no eyebrows (c'mon! I can't be the only one who noticed!). It doesn't take much to be haunted by the story of Aileen Wuornos, whether or not this version was fictionalized, or if the filmmakers tried to offer excuses for what are ultimately inexcusable actions (excluding the killing in self-defense... that bastard deserved it). You can't help but wonder how much of a role society has in creating killers. In Lee's case, it is tragic that by the time she found someone to love her, it came too late. |
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Yes, yes, yes. All the critics, for once, are right. Charlize Theron's performance in Monster, as serial killer Aileen Wuornos, is astonishing. From her first moment on screen, you never confuse this skanky white-trash woman with the blonde bombshell that often graces the glossy magazines. Theron, a former ballerina and model for goodness sakes, completely disappears in her role, which, you must admit, is a rare feat in these days of larger-than-life actor/celebrities (hello Tom and Julia). Theron's performance makes Halle Berry's "slumming" in 