Movie Breakdown: Being The Ricardos

Pre-Screening Stance:

I’m always down for anything that Aaron Sorkin does, but I have to admit that pretty much everything about Being The Ricardos looks/seems kind of off. Hopefully I’m wrong.

Post-Screening Ramble:

Being The Ricardos isn’t bad or particularly good – it just sort of mediocrally meanders around. The film is set during a week of filming on I Love Lucy, and then through asides and flashbacks, it touches on a variety of items related to Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman), including her marriage to Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem), her creative process, her career before the show, her relationship with the show’s cast/staff, and the rumors/reports that she was a communist. It’s certainly a ton of ground to cover, and despite some quality dialogue, writer/director Aaron Sorkin struggles to wrangle it all in a way that fully works. Or at least it doesn’t within the time constraints of a film. Maybe it would be a different story had he explored Ball’s life over the course of a series?

Here’s the other thing that holds Being The Ricardos back from being notable – Nicole Kidman. And no, it’s not her performance, which I thought was fine, it’s actually whatever was done to her face to make her look more like Ball. Sometimes it’s kind of OK, but then there are moments where it’s so exaggerated that it hits near-horrific levels. Expect to gasp whenever a super smooth-faced Kidman pops onto the screen.

I’ve seen a lot worse movies than Being The Ricardos, but it’s hard to recommend a biopic that doesn’t do a great job of highlighting the figure at its core. The film will hit theaters this Friday, December 10, and then Prime Video on Tuesday, December 21.

One More Last Thought: