A Dose of Vitameatavegamin for the Soul

Read Time:3 Minute, 42 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Being the Ricardos
–

Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Year Released: 2021
Runtime: 2h 11m
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, J.K. Simmons, Nina Arianda, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat
Where To Watch: Amazon Prime Video

I’m going to start by simply saying even though I was born almost 30 years after its premiere I was a huge fan of “I Love Lucy” and all things related to Lucille Ball. Thanks to Nick At Nite (at least in its early days) I was able to easily enjoy so many classic sitcoms “Bewitched,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “F Troop,” “Get Smart,” “Gilligan's Island,” “Happy Days,” etc. and of course “I Love Lucy.” This programing gave me an appreciation (which I’m still pretty sure helped in my appreciation for classic film. These were simple sitcoms that looked for laughs and let the audience experience the simple joy.

Last year I saw my first glimpse of Nicole Kidman playing the iconic Lucille Ball and despite Kidman’s endless list of great acting credits, I wasn’t sold. I really wanted to be excited for this, a film about one of my all-time favorite shows and characters. Not to mention having Javier Bardem in one of the lead roles. I’ll admit I was more than a little biased before watching this, I tried my best to go in without having made up my mind. I did my best to avoid trailers, even though I had heard countless negative reactions to Kidman and even Bardem’s performances. Thankfully I was able to give the entirety of the film a fair shot.

I will say there were several moments that felt disjointed at best, the inclusion of the “interview” segments really felt out of place for me. However I can happily say that I bought into both of the lead roles, ironically my larger issue was with Nina Arianda, and Tony Hale being cast as Vivian Vance and William Frawley respectively (Ethel and Fred Mertz.) I will be honest, part of my issue may have been the fact that I was familiar with Lucy and Desi’s story and their off-camera personas so I gave this the benefit of the doubt.

One other smaller issue I have is the same problem that I had with “Spencer,” both of these films focused on such a small sampling (Spencer was a three-day weekend, and this was over a week.) I think part of it is just wanting to see more, wanting to see their iconic stories spread out over a larger time period. Thankfully even though I went into the film with some preconceived ideas, I was able to overcome them. This wasn’t my favorite film of the year by a stretch but I was able to enjoy it for what it was. I was able to experience the story without issue, even though I don’t think that Kidman looked anything like Ball, and Bardem was a stretch for Arnaz, I still enjoyed watching their story and falling into this world. Another surprise was the inclusion of Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development”) a small but significant role in the film. I clearly never saw her real-life counterpart but it was great seeing her in more roles after loving “Arrested Development” so much.

This experience reminds me of something that I try to remind myself daily. You really can’t judge a book by its cover, more goes into a film than just what you see in a trailer, its the entire experience that makes a film. Don’t assume that you’ll like or dislike something without giving it a chance (rather it's my review or a trailer either way.)

For more reviews and my YouTube channel, please visit linktr.ee/Overlyhonestmoviereviews

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Find my social media accounts on most platforms simply by searching Overly Honest Movie Reviews.

I’m always happy to hear from my readers; please say hi or send me any questions about all things movies.