Lucy

I thought that the actors did a good job portraying such well-known and loved people. Sure, nobody could ever do it perfectly, but they did their best. Other people have mentioned that the Vitameatavegamin and Candy Factory scenes were done wrong. If they knew how the real episodes went and then saw those scenes and where they were or how they were dressed, a viewer would realize that those scenes were done as rehearsals. Lucy in her dressing room with a bottle of Coke practicing with a mirror, and Lucy and Vivian experiencing the conveyor belt for the first time at practice. Some people just don't pay attention. Like I said, I enjoyed this movie but would rather read Lucy's autobiography, "Love Lucy."

I have no idea how historically accurate the story is. But to my own surprise, I found myself crying through most of this movie. Gradually--very gradually--the (I must say amazing) actress Rachel York uncannily takes on the appearance and personae of the Lucille Ball we all knew from the wildly popular sitcom people my age grew up with many years ago. Though we read stories of the tensions between Ball and her husband/TV co-star, Desi Arnez, none of it seemed very real. This drama drives it home. It is a true tragi-comedy. Neither of these two enormously talented personalities come across as villains.It is, in the end, simply a tragic clash of cultures.

All performers in this production are top notch.

I've read a lot of negative reviews of this film and I can only say that yes, there are some errors in the chronology and anachronisms regarding the cars used. If you can get beyond all that, the film will entertain you. The acting and the portrayals are quite good of Lucy and Desi, and acceptable for Viv and Bill Frawley. There are some not-bad impersonations of some legends like Eddie Cantor and young Bette Davis. A standout is the young woman portraying Carole Lombard, and the 20s period stuff looks good. I wish they would have gone more into Desi's background as his early life was filled with at least as much drama as Lucy's. The woman who plays DeDe Ball really looks exactly like the real thing. The re-creations of Lucy's best routines are pretty good. It must be hard to near-impossible to try an imitate a comic genius credibly, but Rachel York does a very good job. I've read nearly everything ever written about Lucy and Desi, and while this film is not perfect, it is generally pretty accurate.

It was on tv last night..kinda surprised no one has commented on it yet. I actually missed the first 20 minutes or so of this because the alarm didn't wake me like it should have, but the rest of the film was very gripping. I never realized how much drama there was in Lucille's life..it's quite sad to think about. She was very happy on-stage, clearly.

The looks of the actors, Rachel and Daniel, were very off from the real Lucy and Desi (sometimes they actually find people who look like the people) which kinda threw me and made it hard for me to like see everything happening to the real Lucy. However their voices and accents were really good, so that helped. I noticed they kinda changed around a few things whenever they were recalling an episode...like the chocolate factory one...it was the bossy lady who called the machines to go faster..not Lucy..oh well. It's also sad that it ended so early in the story of their lives, but I suppose it was just to portray the story of "Lucy". It was still excellent and stuck in my mind.

I thought Rachel York was fantastic as "Lucy." I have seen her in "Kiss Me, Kate" and "Victor/Victoria," as well, and in each of these performances she has developed very different, and very real, characterizations. She is a chameleon who can play (and sing) anything!

I am very surprised at how many negative reviews appear here regarding Rachel's performance in "Lucy." Even some bonafide TV and entertainment critics seem to have missed the point of her portrayal. So many people have focused on the fact that Rachel doesn't really look like Lucy. My response to that is, "So what?" I wasn't looking for a superficial impersonation of Lucy. I wanted to know more about the real woman behind the clown. And Rachel certainly gave us that, in great depth. I also didn't want to see someone simply "doing" classic Lucy routines. Therefore I was very pleased with the decision by the producers and director to have Rachel portray Lucy in rehearsal for the most memorable of these skits - Vitameatavegamin and The Candy Factory. (It seems that some of the reviewers didn't realize that these two scenes were meant to be rehearsal sequences and not the actual skits). This approach, I thought, gave an innovative twist to sketches that so many of us know by heart. I also thought Rachel was terrifically fresh and funny in these scenes. And she absolutely nailed the routines that were recreated - the Professor and the Grape Stomping, in particular. There was one moment in the Grape scene where the corner of Rachel's mouth had the exact little upturn that I remember Lucy having. I couldn't believe she was able to capture that - and so naturally.

I wonder if many of the folks who criticized the performance were expecting to see the Lucille Ball of "I Love Lucy" throughout the entire movie. After all, those of us who came to know her only through TV would not have any idea what Lucy was really like in her early movie years. I think Rachel showed a natural progression in the character that was brilliant. She planted all the right seeds for us to see the clown just waiting to emerge, given the right set of circumstances. Lucy didn't fit the mold of the old studio system. In her frustrated attempts to become the stereotypical movie star of that era, she kept repressing what would prove to be her ultimate gifts.

I believe that Rachel deftly captured the comedy, drama, wit, sadness, anger, passion, love, ambition, loyalty, sexiness, self absorption, childishness, and stoicism all rolled into one complex American icon. And she did it with an authenticity and freshness that was totally endearing. "Lucy" was a star turn for Rachel York. I hope it brings a flood of great roles her way in the future. I also hope it brings her an Emmy.