Being the Ricardos movie review: Aaron Sorkin’s cinematic tribute to the screen legend seems flaccid and half baked

Being the Ricardos is based on a rather debilitating week in the life of small screen’s most celebrated couple, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz but hardly scratches the surface

Being the Ricardos

Story:
The film revolves around how TV’s most celebrated couple, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz once grappled with multiple setbacks during the course of a week and how it threatened their personal and professional life.

Review:
Movies about stars allow audiences an unfiltered glimpse into the lives of their screen idols — beyond the lens of a celebrity. They pack a distinct voyeuristic appeal and permit access to an insulated world that most can only imagine. One also hopes such a biopic would go beyond tabloid reportage and paint a more intimate portrait of the showbiz figure in question.

Being the Ricardos, based on a rather debilitating week in the life of small screen’s biggest star, Lucille Ball, hardly scratches the surface.

The eponymous star of I Love Lucy, not only pioneered a distinct brand of physical comedy but also led the way for female leads in sitcoms with her feisty and remarkable turn in the legendary show. The sitcom which had a glorious six-year run in the 1950s and bagged numerous Primetime Emmys was also ranked the most popular sitcom of all time by a survey conducted by People Magazine. While Ball headlined the show, her real-life husband Desi Arnaz reprised his role on screen as Ricky. The show followed the couple’s hilarious misadventures but their off-screen drama also offered enough material for celluloid. Sadly, Aaron Sorkin’s cinematic tribute to the screen legend seems flaccid, half baked and lacks mood and essential heft.

The film captures a week in Ball’s (Nicole Kidman) life when she was at the peak of her stardom. Literally calling the shots on I Love Lucy, Ball often undermined the writers and makers of her popular show. Several scenes depict her as domineering and fastidious to a fault, often dismissing the script and turning scenes and dialogues around to suit her fancy. But the infamous week in question is packed with revelations that could potentially and cumulatively terminate her professional life. First, she’s painted by the media as a certified communist based on some dated records. While this may seem like a slight, given the political climate of the time and the conservative network and studio heads, it’s surely something that threatened her career. Almost as a double whammy, in a matter of days, Ball also learns that she’s pregnant, which could derail her career and the show’s future prospects. Weaving her pregnancy into the show’s storyline is an option the star couple floats but is shot down by most of the creative heads behind the show. The film also delves into Ball’s tumultuous relationship with her adulterous husband (played by Javier Bardem). But for Ball, who’s portrayed as extraordinarily pedantic and is seen questioning the logic behind every gag on her show, to have such a loose reaction to this shocking discovery seems muted if not misplaced.

Sorkin has forever taken a clinical approach in biopics, sifting through milestones and critical events in one’s life to find a story worth telling. The Social Network director is known for his deep understanding of stitching a narrative structure that’s so watertight that one can hardly find a weak moment throughout the film’s runtime. But here, the auteur seems too preoccupied with establishing the setting and the characters and makes this one more about the process of comic writing than about the star battling to avoid a career catastrophe. Like in some of his previous work, some effort has been extended in drafting a transition, and Ball’s sharp and rather heart-breaking fall from stardom has to be the film’s most moving sequence. Particularly the scene when the actress on the cusp of turning quadragenarian is informed by a network executive that they’re planning to pull the plug on her project. The empathetic individual also suggests that Ball could turn to radio as a more age-appropriate career option. But this could’ve been a much tighter and gripping watch, had the multiple whammies that Ball endures been lobbed at her with intensity and aim.

To pin the blame for this unobjectionable real-to-reel project on just Kidman and Bardem would be unfair. That said, Kidman pulls through several dramatic scenes glass-eyed and poker-faced. Internalising a character is one thing, but not allowing the scene’s emotion to surface and translate across the screen can be interpreted as a lack of effort and taking the wind out of intense sequences. It’s almost disappointing and difficult to imagine an acid-tongued Ball, known for her famous quips, being depicted as a ruthless dictator on the sets. Bardem as the supportive yet adulterous husband seems on point but is hardly offered any lines to prove his comic timing. His character’s supposed magnetic appeal is also demonstrated deliberately in scenes where his co-stars are literally flinging themselves on him, unable to resist his ‘charm’. But confined to playing second fiddle in the larger scheme of things ensures that his contributions hardly turn the fate of this film.

Verdict:
For a film on TV’s most famous comedy couple, this one could’ve retained some of the humour. Delving into the conflicting egos, how the couple negotiated public life after their plunge from stardom and perhaps, a more candid portrait of the woman behind the star are some of the elements that could’ve made this a more compelling watch. But this seems like an obstinate Sorkin show, as the filmmaker’s obsession with form and technique seems to have shadowed the very premise of this story. Consequently, this one hardly delivers as a biopic but breaks down the anatomy of a comedy scene and dissects the writing process in sitcoms to some extent. But those adding this to their watchlist to reminisce about the comedy sensation whose popularity straddled continents would hardly find this gratifying.

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Cast and Crew

Nicole Kidman

Lucille Ball

J.K. Simmons

William Frawley

Nina Arianda

Vivian Vance

Linda Lavin

Tony Hale

Jess Oppenheimer

Ronny Cox

Older Bob Carroll

Christopher Denham

Donald Glass

Jonah Platt

Tip Tribby

Renee Pezzotta

Italian Woman

Breanna Wing

Angie

John Funk

J. Edgar Hoover

Dan Sachoff

David Levy

John F. Carpenter

Radio Show Announcer

Evie Nicholson

Woman Outside Ciro's

Sarah Hamilton

Dancer

Jeff Holman

Roger Otter

Alexa Niemi

Dancer

Rick Batalla

Tommy

Christian Roberts

Camera A Focus Puller

Emily Marsh

Sally

Benedikt Brydern

Radio Band Pianist

Lawrence Novikoff

Sam Stein

Amanda J. Dobos

I Love Lucy Show Audience

Bob Honest

Desilu Rep

Bruce M. Stockert

Camera Man

Javier Bardem

Desi Arnaz

Jake Lacy

Bob Carroll Jr.

Alia Shawkat

Madelyn Pugh

Clark Gregg

Robert Pine

Nelson Franklin

John Rubinstein

Matt Cook

James Paisley

Pamela Mitchell

Woman

Ron Ostrow

Man

Dana Lyn Baron

Miss Rosen

Jenya Chaplin

Dancer

Gail Rastorfer

Dresser

Lori Dorfman

Too Many Girls Dancer

Angela Leib

Koerner's Secretary

Louis Delavenne

Costume Designer

Caroline Anderson

Daisy

Guido Cocomello

Bellman

Stephanie Lesh-Farrell

Radio Show Katy

Paul Riley Fox

Studio Usher

Jack Benza

Security Guard Bobby

Michael Edelstein

Phillip Morris Rep

James Patrick Duffy

Photographer

Gus Lynch

Camera B Focus Puller

Daniela Azuaje

Flower Girl Dancer

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