Monster

Charlize Theron's performance in this movie was so incredible I felt compelled to shout about it to every single person I know. I was so blown away by her that her performance actually reignited my own passion for acting and made me realize why I'm trying so hard to break into this business and to do it well. I never thought that Charlize Theron (of whom I was never a big fan) of all people could make me remember what movie-making is all about. With one role, she's converted me into a life-long fan. If Oscar means anything anymore, she deserves that award, hands-down. The movie itself is one of the most gripping and emotional stories I've ever seen in a film, and, true or not, its right up there with the other great indies depicting the sorry lives of Middle-Americans, such as Boys Don't Cry and, ironically, Monster's Ball. I wept straight through the last twenty minutes of this movie, continued weeping intermittently throughout the day, and wept some more about it during my preparation for acting class the following day. Before I saw the film, I saw Charlize on The Daily Show, talking to John Stewart about how Aileen Wuornos' story (and I'm paraphrasing) forces one to re-examine how we might label someone "evil" for doing horrible things. I thought, that's just a bunch of liberal bulls**t. Then I saw the movie. Like I said, we can't know how much of the movie is one-hundred percent factual, but it's almost scary how little that mattered to me after I left the theater. This film moved me so much that I actually decided then and there that I would, that I would have to, think a little harder the next time I thought of someone as "evil". If the goal of the filmmakers was to just try to get people to think about the fairness of the death penalty, I believe they succeeded.

I just saw again Monster, followed by Nick Broomfield's gripping documentary on Aileen Wuornos, and what a brilliant film it is. It sort of reminded me of the kind of movies they used to make in the '70s, where the characters were really the center and they weren't trapped by formulas or by the self-indulgency of the director or the actors. The characters aren't judged, but they're shown with their humanity. With empathy. The result is not your usual indie movie that tries to be hip, or a sugar-coated version of this tragic story with an answer for everything and a nice confortable message in the end, but a truly moving and absorbing film that focuses on the people whose story is telling. At the core there's the amazing performance from Charlize Theron, who's deserving of all the praises and the awards she got. Her work is powerful, subtle, moving and layered. It's incredible to watch Broomfield's documentary, after seeing the film. Sometimes it really seems like watching the same person. It's not only that she recreated her mannerism, which she did perfectly, she's also, somehow, got her energy, as a person. She got to the emotional reasons as to why Aileen's mannerism was like that. In short: an extraordinary performance and a powerful film.

Let me begin by saying that Charlize Theron gives the best female performance that I have ever seen on film. Theron deservedly won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos. I can not recall a performance, male or female, with such raw intensity. For those who may not know, MONSTER is the true story of Aileen Wuornos, a Florida prostitute who was executed a couple of years ago for killing men that picked her up on the highway. However, this is much, much more than a deranged serial killer flick. This film shows us, very convincingly, how a person can be led to a life of violence. Aileen had an awful childhood and an awful life. She was molested as a child by her father as well as other male relatives. As a child, she was surrounded by abuse, drug addiction, and domestic violence. Men horribly abused her as a child, and she began prostituting at age thirteen. In her later years, Aileen became a prostitute because it had been grilled into her head all her life that she was just a whore. As MONSTER opens, Aileen's car breaks down and she wanders into what she doesn't know is a gay bar. Sitting alone at a table is lonely, confused lesbian Selby (Christina Ricci), who strikes up a conversation with the dirty, unkempt Aileen, who washes her hair in gas station sinks and uses the hand dryer to fix her hair. After many drinks, Aileen and Selby become close, and soon enter into an unhealthy, torrid, tragic love affair. Selby is naive and has always been sheltered, and she just wants genuine love. However, Aileen has issues that Selby doesn't see at first. There is certainly nothing positive or redeeming about serial killers, but you often feel yourself having a small bit of sympathy for Aileen because you realize why she kills the men who pick her up...SHE HATES MEN. Aileen has always hated men, and the only love scenes in which any tenderness and emotion is shown are the lesbian love scenes between Aileen and Selby. You also feel some sorrow for Aileen because she DOES want to improve herself, but has no way of knowing how to do so. There are scenes where Aileen applies for jobs because she really wants to do right, but she is always rejected. She applies for secretarial jobs at law offices and is laughed right out of the building while she curses and screams at everyone. She doesn't know any better because she has no social skills. In one of the most powerful scenes, Aileen is hitch hiking and is picked up by a genuinely nice man who offers to help her. He is sincere and doesn't want sex. He is a decent man who offers a helping hand, but Aileen just can not trust any man. She tells him she doesn't want to kill him, but because her previous killings are all over the news, she has to kill him so she won't be identified. Selby, meanwhile, learns of Aileen's murderous rampage and tearfully decides to go to the authorities. What makes this film so powerful is that this is A TRUE STORY. Aileen Wuornos had a miserable life. Life dealt her a s@@@@y hand. She never had a chance. Growing up, nobody....teachers, parents, relatives....reached out to her. You can't excuse a serial killer rampage, but this is the only "serial killer" film that I have seen that at least offers some reasoning behind the insanity. Again, this is intense, and Charlize Theron is AMAZING.

I had my reservations before watching this. I was sceptical cause of the buzz. Everyone was talking about the way Theron, "the most gorgeous woman alive", transformed herself into Aileen. A prostitute who killed several clients. I thought Theron was just looking for success, another ambitious actress wanting a gold statue. That director Jenkins had a reason to make the film didn't matter for me then.

But everyone involved in this film deserve the credit. Monster is gripping. It's a film that makes you feel almost every emotion you can think of: sadness, anger, compassion, wrath. It confuses you. Do you identify with Aileen or do you disapprove of her actions? I guess both. You despise her for killing the men. But the film challenges that. You can almost explain (and thus condone) her actions. I guess the one thing that stayed with me was that it occurred to me what it must feel like to be really and utterly alone in this world.

I sometimes wonder why more people can't be nice. I wonder why the sins of the father have to plague the lives of his children. Why people rape, abuse, hurt, and maim. In a perfect world everyone would be happy. In a perfect world no one would ever want. In a perfect world a women like Aileen Wurnos would not have been sentenced to die on death row, and in a real world I wouldn't have to write about a movie like MONSTER. It's a movie that drips with exceptional performances, and yet leaves your soul so cold to the core.

MONSTER is the tragic true story of a woman who longed for a friend, and nobody came to her aid. It stars Charlize Theron (The Devil's Advocate) as Aileen Wurnos, one of the first women to ever die on death row. Of course the film doesn't begin that way, when we first meet her she's sitting in the rain with a gun contemplating ending it all. You see she's has no future. She has nothing but a past that's not worth repeating, and all she has in the world is in a storage locker. What little money she has, is gained by being a prostitute. But one day in a little bar in Daytona Beach, Florida she meets and falls for a woman that finally makes her happy.

The woman is named Selby (Christina Ricci, The Opposite of Sex), and she's a young lesbian just trying to figure out the world for herself. At first this relationship puts Aileen on cloud nine. She's willing to do anything to provide for the first person that ever loved her.

But one night when Aileen kills a john who gets a little to rough, a series of events take our characters on a one way trip with destiny. Leaving the landscape of these two women's lives are forever changed. If only someone had just been nice to Aileen.

MONSTER is not a happy film. It's one of those movies that leaves you dead at the end. You lose faith in humanity; you lose faith in yourself. I like these kinds of movies, cause they convict me. Here I am a young guy who sometimes gets ticked off at a driver in front of me on the road. For one split moment I have murderous anger when that guy cuts me off. What if I was in Aileen's situation? Would I do the same thing? I would hope not, but hey you never know.

If there is one performance that will tear you up inside this year, it's Theron's. For the entire movie you can hardly believe that this is, in real life, a beautiful women. Theron throws all the glamour out the window, gaining weight and frumping herself up to the point of being ugly. This is a complete 360 and she's so engrossing. She carries the film to heights. A lesser actress might turn in a wonderful performance, but Theron was Aileen. This is some brilliant acting.

I also give Kudos to Bruce Dern . His character has the distinction of being the only person who shows any real compassion for Aileen. While a small role it sticks out because it's the only real bit of bright light in an otherwise dark and gloomy picture.

The screenplay by Patty Jenkins (Who also directed) does a great job of giving Aileen and those around her life. What Aileen did was reprehensible. What she did was evil, and she must pay for that. But it allows for sympathy. Not all evil is dark and black, and not all people who murder are 100% culpable. But yet you reap what you sow no matter what you're past.

MONSTER is a well-made, brilliantly acted film that's not for the weak of heart. It's engaging, engrossing, and realistic. I think I want to rush out and get the silliest comedy I can find right now, because I need something to offset the dark tone of this film. While it get a fine recommendation, I just hope that the next time you feel like treating someone like crap, you'll remember just how tragic the life of Aileen Wurnos turned tragic because nobody reached out.