Being The Ricardos
In the 1950’s, partners on screen and in real life, Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arna (Javier Bardem), would help to shape one of the formative and most recognizable programs in American television history with I Love Lucy. But, portrayal as America’s sweethearts would come into question amidst The Red Scare and personal troubles off screen, this is a week in their life.
Written and Directed by Aaron Sorkin this deconstruction of I Love Lucy from the inside out works as a reenactment of actual events and further efforted with pseudo documentary interviews of writers and producers in present day– a presentation that has the best intentions but ultimately mixed results. Specifically, the present day interviews are mainly a miss, however, Kidman’s portrayal of the late Lucille Ball is haunting and transformative, the real winner amidst this analeptic scramble of events. Bottom line, points for visual presentation, style and massive acting chops, but, demerits for an otherwise dry procedural distillation of history. Being the Ricardos is rated R and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome at two hours and five minutes of runtime.