Being the Ricardos releases exclusively on Prime Video on December 21st.
If you love movies, then you probably know who Aaron Sorkin is. He has written many modern classics such as The Social Network and Moneyball while also delivering last year’s Best Picture nominee, The Trial of the Chicago 7, which he wrote and directed. It is safe to say that the man has certainly made a mark in the film industry so, now the writer and director is taking a crack at a brand new movie about the 50s hit TV show, I Love Lucy. But, I hate to be the one to say this but Being the Ricardos is sadly one of 2021s biggest disappointments. Here’s why.
Being the Ricardos follows Lucille Bell (played by Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (played by Javier Bardem) as they face a crisis, where Lucille is rumoured to be working with the communists, that could end their careers and could end their marriages.
Aaron Sorkin has consistently delivered great movie after great movie for over twenty years so I was incredibly shocked when I saw his latest movie because it just felt…messy. Sorkin is known for writing fantastic scripts for his movies but Being the Ricardos felt lifeless and shallow compared to what we were given in, for example, last year’s The Trial of the Chicago 7. I could never latch onto the characters in the movie and as you move into the second half of the film, lots of people just became really unlikeable.
However, if I have to give some positives to the film, at least the performances were excellent. If it weren’t for Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem, the film would honestly be unwatchable. Both actors are absolutely incredible in the film and really do embody the people that they are playing. Nicole Kidman, in particular, really is Oscar nomination worthy, giving one of the best performances I have seen all year. Bardem, too, is great as Desi Arnaz. While he certainly doesn’t get as much screen time as Kidman’s Lucille Bell, whenever he is on screen is when the film works best.
However, due to the messy screenplay, the movie is an absolute slog to get through. Even though it is only two hours long, it feels like it is at least double in length. Every single scene felt like it was dragged out for as long as it possibly could be. Compared to Chicago 7 (a film with perfect pacing and great editing), this felt like an after-thought and that Sorkin’s priority was to make his movie for Netflix be as perfect as it could possibly be whilst his movie for Amazon, Being the Ricardos, was an afterthought and rushed out to hit its Christmas release.
I hate to be the one to say this but Being the Ricardos is a soulless and forgettable biopic that never truly got me invested in the story it was trying to tell on-screen. Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem are both exceptional but this is easily Sorkin’s worst movie to date. It is messy, lifeless and telling a story that could never get me interested. If you want to see Kidman and Bardem’s performances, I would give the film a watch but other than that, this is an easy skip and one of 2021s biggest disappointments.
⭐½
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