Aaron Sorkin’s latest film- Being the Ricardos was released to subscribers on Amazon Prime Video today, but is it a flop or a success? With a 69% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this is Sorkin’s lowest rated movie to date. Where did it go wrong? Many viewers are displeased with the casting for this film, claiming that Kidman wasn’t the right choice to play Ball, an opinion to which I agree. When one watches a biopic, we expect to see a well-known beloved character come to life on screen. For example, Natalie Portman’s Jackie O comes to mind. Instead, we are very aware the entire film that it is Nicole Kidman playing the infamous Lucille Ball. Kidman fails to get lost in the mannerisms and quirks of the character taking the audience out of experiencing the world Sorkin recreates. There is a great difference in “Nicole Kidman IS Lucille Ball’ and “Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball”, and unfortunately, the performance reflects the latter.
The film does however give the audience a glimpse into the reality of Ball and Arnaz’ marriage. Being the Ricardos examines the life of Lucille Ball like we’ve never seen before.
The film takes place in 1952 over the course of a week on set of the I Love Lucy show shortly after a radio host accuses Ball of being a communist. The film cuts between the present and the past as the relationship between Ball and Arnaz begins to fall apart. Despite being the depiction of a perfectly happy couple on television, it was no secret that their marriage was quite the tumultuous relationship. Sorkin falls short of capturing the emotion of this film and feels cold at times. It feels rushed, never letting Kidman truly let her talent shine through as a woman in the position of losing everything she loves.
While we don’t know much about the off-screen personality of Lucille Ball, Kidman’s portrayal of her on-screen persona brings the audience back to the realization that this is a woman we’re all familiar with. If you view this film as a biopic, you’re most likely to end up disappointed. Although it is hard to get past Kidman’s portrayal of Ball, Being the Ricardos beautifully creates the visually stunning world of Hollywood in the 1950’s, and reminds us all just how far television has come over the past 70 years in the name of equality.
