ViewGuide

Created Feb 03, 2010 08:12PM PST • Edited Sep 02, 2018 08:45PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Really Great 4.5

   A superbly crafted film about a sympathetic sociopath, Monster deserves to be appreciated for much more than Charlize Theron’s Oscar-winning performance as serial killer Aileen Wuornos. For instance, it deftly shows a seamy side of American society, the confounding and sometimes tragic forces of sexuality, and the inexorable momentum of a criminal enterprise once begun. Add in Theron and Cristina Ricci’s star-crossed lovers for a supremely satisfying movie-watching experience, notwithstanding the distasteful story.

   Wuornos – profoundly tragic, the daughter of a child molester – was born-to-be-bad. A sex worker from a young age, she coped through heavy self-medication. IOW, she was a raging alcoholic who saw herself as perpetual victim. No matter her legitimate beefs, this proved a recipe for destruction, since if you’re always the victim, it’s OK to retaliate by any means necessary, no matter who gets hurt.

   Strong and able to take on all comers, physically and sexually, Wuornos was a disaster waiting to happen.

   Writer-director Patty Jenkins’ film shows how Wuornos’ incendiary persona fell into a criminal enterprise that would fund a new life for her and her girlfriend. Never mind that the first killing was in self-defense. Once in, with a taste for success, getting out became inconceivable.

   This is often the case with crime, but few crime movies present it so masterfully. Bravo.

4. Acting

   Really Great 4.5

   Charlize Theron so deserved the Oscar she won for playing Wuornos. Beneath a layer of mottled makeup, she embraced the indignities of the role, the sort of commitment that Hollywood admires, as do reviewers.

   Christina Ricci’s mousy lesbian provides a soft counterpoint. Both actresses bravely present themselves in unflattering fashion: pudgy, with flat hair and makeup. They pull it off in a testament to their acting skills.

   The rest of the strong cast have little more than bit parts, including:

   • Lee Tergesen eerily showing the dual nature of psychopathic killers.
   • Bruce Dern – always memorable – adding character as one of Wuornos’ lowlife friends.

5. Male Stars Great 4.0

6. Female Stars Perfect 5.0

7. Female Costars Great 4.0

8. Male Costars Great 4.0

10. Film

    Really Great 4.5

    Beautiful film, well crafted – lyrical in places, hard core in others. Writer-director Patty Jenkins established herself as an accomplished auteur here. Why hasn’t she made another movie in the seven years since?

11. Direction Perfect 5.0

    Jenkins skillfully shows the choices made by the characters, and the consequences that follow. For instance, Theron’s sole nude scene as Wuornos shows her covered in the blood of her first victim, clearly reflecting on the wages of her sin. As shown nearby, this marks the point of no return for both actress and character.

12. Play Great 4.0

13. Music Perfect 5.0

    The film makes perfect use of 80s party music: Journey, INXS, Blondie, Molly Hatchet, REO Speedwagon.

    Special notice goes to Tommy James & The Shondells’ Crimson and Clover. “Over and Over.” Great song.

14. Visuals Great 4.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 3.2

    Brutal and nasty, albeit with enjoyable moments of Sapphic eroticism.

17. Sex Erotic 2.6

18. Violence Brutal 3.0

19. Rudeness Nasty 4.0

21. Reality

    Glib 1.2

    The real Wuornos was like a fictional movie character. How’s this for a hothead?

    • Hit her 70 year old husband upside the head with his own cane. They divorced after nine weeks.
    • Got arrested for winging a cue ball at a bartender’s head.
    • Offed a sausage salesman.

    You can’t make this stuff up.

    As to The Last Resort, she was in fact finally apprehended at that biker bar in Volusia County, Florida. The Last Resort indeed.

22. Circumstantial Glib 1.5

    Wuornos’ real lover was apparently a hotel maid named Tyria Moore, not a middle class girl staying with in-laws, as depicted in the movie.

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0