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Monster Customer Reviews (55 - 57 of 100 Reviews)

A CINEMATIC VIEW OF A SORDID, WASTED LIFE...
This controversial film is worth seeing, if only for Charlize Theron's outstanding, Academy Award winning performance. Ms. Theron totally loses herself in the character of Aileen Wuornos, the serial killer who murdered seven men in Florida and was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Aileen Wuornos was finally executed in 2002, after spending many years on death row.

The film details the hard knocks life led by Aileen Wuornos, from that of a troubled teenager looking for love in all the wrong places to that of a hard living prostitute. It also looks at the very human side of Aileen Wuornos, a woman who found love in the person of a troubled, young lesbian in her late teens (Christina Ricci), who would ultimately betray the trust that Aileen Wuornos believed lay between her and her eventual fate.

Ms. Theron's physical transformation is startling, though I found her still recognizable as Charlize Theron. It is her performance, however, rather than her physical transformation, that is more startling, as she infuses it with a high voltage intensity and swagger that bowls the viewer over. She makes the person of Aileen Wuornos come to life. She is a low rent individual, white trash to the core, prostituting herself by getting into cars in order to have sex with total strangers. So, this film is not for the fastidious, as we are looking at the seamy underbelly of the beast in this film, and it sure isn't pretty. It is also a credit to Ms. Theron's compelling performance that the viewer is able to feel pity for Aileen Wuornos, a woman who is so vile, yet, at the same time, so vulnerable and pathetic.

The direction is excellent in the film, as are all the supporting performances. Christina Ricci is very good as the weak, passive, troubled young woman with whom Aileen Wuornos enters into a lesbian love affair, a relationship which lasted years in real life rather than the short time depicted in the film. Ms. Ricci infuses the role with a certain amoral, vapid selfishness that makes the character's betrayal of Aileen Wuornos comprehensible. Bruce Dern, in the role of Thomas, Aileen Wuornos' only true friend, is a stand out, as he adds depth to an otherwise small role. It is clear that Thomas saw something in Aileen Wuornos that the rest of the world missed. It is the most decent relationship that Aileen Wuornos appears to have had.

The film itself, despite the stellar performances, is somewhat flawed, as it is unclear as to what made Aileen Wuornos tick, though it makes an attempt at deciphering her psyche. There are several theories that are exposed for the viewer to ponder: abused child, rape victim, and love sick puppet. They fall short of explaining adequately this troubled woman who would go on to achieve such notoriety. Notwithstanding this unresolved issue, the film is still a compelling one, though not one I would necessarily care to view again, as there is nothing at all uplifting about the disturbing and sordid life led by Aileen Wuornos. Consequently, I consider this film to be a one shot deal, despite the wonderful performances.

the performance of the year
A film by Patty Jenkins

Roger Ebert listed "Monster" as the best film of all of 2003. Charlize Theron won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos. For months before the Oscars the talk had been about how amazing Theron's performance was and how not only was it the best performance of the year, it was one of the best performances in years. This is a lot of high praise that raised my expectations on exactly what it was that I was going to see in "Monster".

"Monster" is based on the true story of Aileen Wuornos. Aileen lived as a prostitute in Florida and became a serial murderer, killing her prospective clients. As the film opens, Aileen is sitting under an overpass and is reflecting back on past events, specifically her meeting of Selby (Christina Ricci). After meeting Selby in a bar, Selby quickly becomes Aileen's best (and only) friend and also her lover. They are both very lonely and needy people. For the love of Selby, Aileen wants to clean up her life, quit hooking, and find a real job so she can support Selby. Unfortunately for Aileen, she is unable to find a job because she has no work experience, no resume, and a huge chip on her shoulder that prevents anyone in a position to help to even want to help her. Selby is demanding, telling Aileen that she needs to start hooking again because they don't have any money, she is hungry, and this is one thing that Aileen can do to support her.

When she is raped by one of her clients, Aileen finally snaps and kills him. She tells Selby that this was a one time thing, but after this first murder she starts killing and robbing her other clients. It is at this point where we start to see Aileen crack under the pressure of what her life has become. She feels that from day one she never stood a chance. She was sexually abused as a child and by age 13 was pregnant and a prostitute. This is her life and she has no opportunity to improve her life. Her experience trying to find a legitimate job is proof of this. "Monster" is the story of Aileen Wuornos and it is brutal and unflinching.

It is impossible to separate the performance of Charlize Theron from the rest of the movie. "Monster" is built on the raw power and pain of Theron's transformation into Aileen Wuornos. This transformation was both physical and emotional. Charlize Theron is a strikingly beautiful woman and early in her career the roles she became known for were little more than the beautiful wife/girlfriend/woman (Legend of Bagger Vance, The Devil's Advocate, The Cider House Rules). "Monster" required a physical change in the appearance of Theron's face and the make-up helped change the beautiful Theron into the ugly Wuornos. The other part of the transformation is that Wuornos was a tormented, pained, and angry woman and this required Theron to not simply be a woman acting but rather to "become" Aileen Wuornos. She succeeds.

During the first half of the movie I could not figure out why Theron had won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She had become Aileen, but the performance was nothing terribly impressive for the first fifty minutes. But when Selby confronts Aileen to return to being a prostitute, that scene nailed it for me and brought Theron's performance to an entirely new level. The raw emotion Theron conveyed carried the movie. The performance became more emotional, angry, vulnerable, fearful, and edgy and at no point did I think that this was Theron acting. I saw Aileen Wuornos.

The movie itself, without Charlize Theron, did not feel to me that it was telling a story that could not have been told on a made for cable (because of the content) movie. But the movie is not so much about the plot and about the story, but rather about the performance and transformation of Charlize Theron into Aileen Wuornos. The performance makes the viewer capable of feeling pity for Aileen without excusing her actions. I don't feel that there is any question that Theron deserved the Oscar for "Monster".

-Joe Sherry

Charlize Theron is a fine actor in every sense of the word
This film is based on the true story of serial killer Aileen Wuomos, who was executed in 2002, Of course there is no way of knowing what exactly went on with each of the seven men who she murdered. And there is no way of knowing about the details of the relationship between Aileen Wuomos and her young lesbian girlfriend Selby, played by Christina Ricci. But it doesn't really matter because, due to the excellent writing and directing by Patty Jenkins, the characters come across as very real and very human.

Charlize Theron is cast as Aileen in a performance that won her an Academy Award. Whoever did her makeup should get an award too. All her glamour and "babe-like" qualities are hidden. And what comes out is the true actor inside of her in every sense of the word. Every gesture, every expression on her face and every bit of anger and pain come through as authentic and real. She's totally believable as the deeply troubled woman, damaged by life. She's desperate for love and a little bit of happiness. But she hasn't a chance. When one of her customers seriously mistreats her, she kills him in self-defense. After that she just keeps killing.

As I recently saw the documentary about her life just a few days ago, I couldn't help comparing the films. Both were excellent. But while the documentary left a lot of open questions, "Monster" answered them. Therefore, part of my experience of watching "Monster" was trying to figure out what was true and what was not. But after a while I relaxed and just let myself get into watching the film for what it is. And it's a truly fine film with outstanding performances. Highly recommended.

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