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Monster Customer Reviews (43 - 45 of 100 Reviews)

Touching tragic true life drama
Gritty tragic tale about the exploits of a female serial killer. The title of the movie is slightly ironic since this movie fills out the flesh and bones of what we have read in the papers and succeeds in granting her humanity. The performance of Charlise Theron as Aileen Wuornos is every bit as good as you have been lead to believe. Theron does not simply manage to look like Wuornos, with her big boned gangly stride and psychotic rage filled eyes (when she is angry) she also does a good job of describing her inner workings, her peculiar vulnerability and pain. We see Wuornos the prostitute, homeless friendless and aimless, then when she finally meets someone who actually seems interested in her friendship (a newly outed lesbian girl well played by Christina Ricci) she finally has something to lose. One night she is nearly raped and murdered by a sadistic 'customer', she just manages to get the upper hand and kills him. The film explains that from this point on she is finished with prostitution, yet she must still eat and her new young lover demands to be fed so she meets would be 'Johns' and sets about unleashing her long pent up rage upon them, one after another she kills them and steals their car and money. We get the impression that she is insane, unable to differentiate anymore between the violent attacker and the other johns, she lumps them all together and only once is she merciful in an encounter with a john, in all other cases they die regardless. When a customer calls himself 'daddy' during one such encounter she rounds on him, accusing him of paedophilia. Is she fully aware of what she is doing and cynically manipulating herself to believe they deserve to die in order for her to be able to justify their murders to herself? Or is she hopelessly insane? As the film nears the sad inevitable conclusion we see her killing (in coldest blood) a concerned kind man who only wanted to help her. It is to the credit of this film that the director doesnt make any moral judgements about Aileen Wuornos, we are allowed to feel sorry about the murders of (most) of her victims and yet we cannot help but to feel sympathy for Wuornos herself, the pain of living such a sad dissapointing life would be difficult for anyone to bear and stay sane.

I have also viewed the documentary 'portrait of a serial killer' about Aileen Wuornos in prison, and a lawyers attempt to stop her from becoming another victim of the Bush familly. After viewing the interview with her it is plain to see that she is clearly stark raving mad, it would be impossible to fake such a display. It was cruel to incarcerate her without the medication she needed, even less humane to execute her in that condition, but good politics yes.

See it for Theron
"Monster" is the heartwarming story of one Aileen Wuornos, a rough and tumble gal who killed a bunch of guys in Florida back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Eventually the cops got wise to the fact that the person bumping these chaps off was probably one of the numerous harridans roaming the highways and byways looking for johns. The authorities eventually hauled in Wuornos and got a confession, tried her for capital murder, and executed her about three years ago. End of story. Well, not according to writer/director Patty Jenkins. She thought Wuornos's tale of woe would make for a great movie, and thus "Monster" arrived on the scene last year to great acclaim. Thanks in large part to the shocking metamorphosis of lead actress Charlize Theron, the movie grabbed a lot of attention in all corners. Moreover, the film is notable because someone in Hollywood managed to make a film about a social outcast that didn't cover the subject with retch-inducing sycophancy. There aren't any heroes in "Monster," and while the picture tries to garner some sympathy for the despicable Wuornos, it never attempts to justify the horrible actions committed by this loathsome serial killer--at least not that much, anyway.

One look at Aileen Wuornos ought to make any sane person head for the hills, but surprisingly many different types of guys pick her up on the side of the road. This works well for the woman since her appearance and rough manner virtually ensures that she can't find adequate employment anywhere else, at least not the sort of work that she could use to support herself. Indeed, one part of the film documents Wuornos's attempts to leave her ugly past behind in order to find a decent job only to find rejection awaits her at every stop. Anyway, her life suddenly takes on new meaning thanks to two major events. First, she meets a young woman with serious personal issues, Selby Wall (Christina Ricci), in a bar and the two strike up an odd relationship. Wuornos is just what this young girl is looking for, primarily an escape from the fundamentalist relatives her father sent her to after exhibiting questionable behavior up in Ohio. Second, Wuornos kills a john after the guy nearly kills her on an abandoned road. Needing to move on for a time to avoid potential problems with the police, Aileen eventually convinces Selby to tag along.

The two move through a string of scuzzy hotels and run down shacks before settling in a fairly nice house. But there are problems, mainly Selby's need to meet people outside the relationship and her ever so subtle manipulations of Wuornos's frail ego. Afraid of losing Selby and with her absence the only sense of love she's ever felt in her life, Wuornos not only continues but also escalates her vicious rampages. She starts offing any of the patrons who pick her up even when it is clearly obvious they have no intention of physically harming her. Wuornos then sells off the men's cars for the cash needed to keep her girlfriend satisfied. It's really a sick relationship made even worse by the fact that Selby knows what's going on and refuses to put a stop to it. Oh, she goes through the motions, crying and screaming and asking her beloved "Lee" what is going on, but she always comes back for more. And why not? Every so often Wuornos shows up with a wad of cash and takes care of everything. That Selby will eventually turn on her lover when the cops come a knockin' should be a foregone conclusion.

While I don't fully agree with others who have said that "Monster" overly sympathizes with its subject, there is evidence of such objectionable behavior in the script. We don't know what Aileen Wuornos really said or did when she killed her victims, so presenting her as crying and remorseful even as she drops the hammer on a victim is a bit of a stretch--especially when it's more than obvious that by this point she is killing solely to make money. But getting something out of the film doesn't really rely on agreeing or disagreeing with how Jenkins depicts her subject as much as it does on the amazing performance turned in by Charlize Theron. An incredibly beautiful woman by any standard, the actress undergoes an incredible transformation to play the pasty faced, obese Aileen Wuornos. She's got everything down, from the woman's voice to her posture and body language. If you don't believe such a thing possible, try and find a documentary or crime show on the real Wuornos and then watch the movie. It's quite remarkable, actually, and very disturbing as well. The only time I could tell I was looking at Theron occurred when she smiled, but other than that we might as well be staring into the late Aileen Wuornos's mug. Scary.

The DVD comes with a few extras, primarily a couple of short featurettes explaining how Jenkins and Theron conducted research into the character and one outlining how the film score came about. No commentary track, surprisingly, but that will probably arrive when someone releases the collector's edition, super duper special feature two disc compilation delivered to your home by Theron herself wearing her Wuornos get up. I heartily recommend "Monster," and would watch it again if given the chance. It reeks of nihilism, contains some of the finest acting I've seen this year, and deals with subject matter most filmgoers avoid like the plague.


Let's not forget who the REAL victims are!
While I'll admit I thought this movie was gripping from beginning to end, I was very disappointed by the fact that the filmmakers tried to make you feel sorry for Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron), who is nothing more than a cold-blooded killer. I felt even less sorry for Christina Ricci's character, who even after learning that Aileen was a murderer, did absolutely nothing until the time came to save her own skin from the police. The real victims were Aileen's whom she killed without feeling any remorse. While watching this movie I couldn't figure out why so many people think Charlize Theron gave such an amazing performance. All she did was try hard to look ugly while saying the "f word" as much as possible. Wow. You can call that great acting if you want, but I call it garbage. I think that overall the film doesn't live up to all the hype, and I strongly recommend you rent first before buying.

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