Monster *** (out of four) Review by Joseph Lopez
A few weeks ago, ABC's ever-entertaining "news" series 20/20 aired a story suggesting that Patty Jenkins' film "Monster" portrays convicted serial killer Aileen Wuornos in a positive light. Reporter John Stossel begged the filmmakers to give him a break. After seeing the movie, one has to wonder if Stossel or anybody working on this Friday night ABC mainstay actually bothered to watch the film before writing the story. Fact is, Aileen Wuornos is not made to look like a good person here. None of her crimes are justified or excused by the film. Instead, "Monster" simply works to bring out the human side of this undoubtedly callous individual. Really, the movie achieves something amazing in not turning Wuornos into a hero, but simply into a person just like you or me.
Charlize Theron stars as Wuornos, a hooker who falls in love with a young woman named Selby, played her by Christina Ricci. Aileen wants to give up hooking, but her inability to secure a regular job leaves little choice. When one john attempts to rape and murder Wuornos, she has no choice but to kill him out of self-defense. From there, Aileen grows paranoid of men in general and murders just about any guy who will pick her up. Why does Aileen do it? The same reason she eventually admits to the crimes, because of her love for Selby.
By now everybody has read plenty about Charlize Theron's amazing performance in this film. Calling it a performance is probably an injustice to what Theron really does her. She isn't acting. Theron encompasses the character, fully bringing her to life. Fact is, we aren't watching Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos, instead we see Aileen Wuornos in the flesh on film. It really is a haunting film in that respect. Wuornos, as you may know, was executed back in October 2002. Yet here she is, alive and immortal on the silver screen.
That doesn't mean Aileen is made to be a hero here, or even a victim. Her crimes are clearly shown as wrong. We are shocked when she murders and sad for the victims. Monster doesn't try to validate anything Wuornos did, it simply shows us that writing her off as a completely insane cold-hearted killer is wrong. Wuornos was a human being. She had fears, weaknesses, and dreams. She made mistakes, but don't we all? Aileen Wuornos was a serial killer, but a serial killer was not Aileen. You cannot classify her for one characteristic of her personality. Most people want to separate ourselves from the murderers and call girls of the world. Perhaps its just easier, or more comforting, to think of civilization being split into "us" and "them". Hollywood does all it can to stay away from turning characters that fit these social taboos into anything even noticeably realistic. That's a bad thing. A down right horrible thing. If we cannot accept that human beings are capable of both great goods and incredible evils, we will never fully come to terms with what being human is.
"Monster" isn't a perfect movie, in fact there's some real problems with the film. Christina Ricci's character especially bothered me. Many times Selby appears to be a winy little girl who has her eyes closed to the real picture. Yes she is young and in love, but that doesn't mean she has to throw a fit whenever she wants to go out. All too often, Selby feels unreal, exactly the opposite of how Aileen comes across. The story has a few slow moments, though the relationship between Aileen and Selby grows quite nicely. There's no question about their love. It's real. In many ways, it's what leads to Aileen's downfall. But that doesn't excuse her actions or make her a victim.
John Stossel claims the film, which is tag lined as "based on a true story", isn't true at all since it treats Wuornos as a real person and not just a ruthless killer. Perhaps Stossel completely missed the point. Aileen Wuornos is a genuine individual, as ambitious and mistaken as any of us. Doesn't that make this the truest story of all?
-Joe Lopez Joemovie@aol.com
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