Monster (2003)

He is definitely a really good movie that has impressed and surprised me in many ways. I do not like watching movies that deal with crime. Just say I'm not a fan of crime thrillers or crime movies but I'm very interested in what's going on in the human head and that's why movies based on true events and the biography of a criminal or convicted person are always very interested I do not have much of this Film expected and even if I had that I would still be surprised to the most positive. The actors are doing a great job but I can not say more about the story the music the rest of the movie is okay but I think the director is really unique and this is one of those movies where I wish there were more female directors because there are some topics feelings and mindsets in films that can only be followed by a woman and therefore only women can bring decent.So this is not a movie I would buy or anything but definitely one that I would watch at again when he is on TV or whatever I can recommend to anyone who is also interested but I say you should have a strong stomach.PS: I take my hat off to Charlize Theron not only because she is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful white women of all time. she is a fantastic actress who always goes out of her way even in her bad movies she does a good job and a good job and here comes the best of her for show and I just can not believe what the make up artist did for a fantastic job because they are unknowable and it's almost unbelievable who is going to do it. (Thanks Patty Jenkins)

One of the hardest things to do is made a typically unsympathetic character sympathetic. Monster deals with a famous serial killer from the early 1990's who believed she was killing for good reasons. Finding a way to write a direct such a character so that the audience doesn't automatically despise your lead is a difficult thing to do. Patty Jenkins and Charlize Theron found a way to do just that with Aileen Wuornos. The story deals with Aileen, who has had a rough life to say the least. She's been a prostitute since an early teen, physically abused by her family, and has been homeless for years ever since being kicked out of her home. Just by hearing that, there's at least some sense of pity I feel for her. This all leads to her meeting Selby Wall (based on Tyria Moore). The film portrays both of them at a rough patch in their life, which makes it all the more timely that they meet each other. After a relatively sweet romance for the first 40 minutes of the film, Aileen begins her crime spree. We may never know exactly how it all went down, but if she originally killed first victim because he was raping her and likely going to murder her, then I can feel a lot of sympathy towards her. As I said, Jenkins makes a choice to present Aileen as a victim herself, but that changes about halfway through. But I really appreciate the balance Jenkins gives to the crimes. They aren't faceless crimes without purpose, she's doing them for love and because her life is close to worthless without the money she's getting. By no means does that dismiss her from having any guilt, as no one should be murdered, but you can begin to understand her mindset just a little bit. It doesn't hurt that you have a great actress like Charlize Theron to build your film around, as she earned an Oscar for her turn as Aileen. It was well deserved I may add. Overall, Monster is a fascinating movie to get inside of a murderous psychopath, but it's more the moments of humanity in Aileen that stand out the most.7.4/10

Patty Jenkins' feature film debut is a thoroughly gripping & unexpectedly heartbreaking biopic that details the troubled life of notorious serial killer Aileen Wuornos in a way that surprisingly evokes a little sympathy for a despicable persona, and benefits greatly from Charlize Theron's jaw-dropping transformation & Academy Award-winning performance.Set in Florida, Monster tells the story of Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute-turned-serial killer who was convicted & executed for her crimes during the late 1980s. The plot mainly covers the relationship she develops with a young woman after moving to Florida, and attempts to shed some light on the events that led her to a path there was no coming back from.Written & directed by Patty Jenkins, Monster is an impressive start to her filmmaking career and remains one of the strongest directorial debuts of 21st century. Jenkins approaches the real-life account with an open viewpoint and portrays Aileen's life as a tragic one without undermining the unforgivable acts she committed. Also, her relationship with her girlfriend is sincerely illustrated.The best thing about Monster, however, is Charlize Theron who single-handedly makes this film work with a performance that's as compelling as it is chilling. Undergoing a physical transformation so profound & disturbing that she's almost unrecognisable in the role, Theron plays Aileen from inside out, and keeps a firm grip on her emotions & expressions at all times. Christina Ricci is in as her girlfriend and does well with what she's given.On an overall scale, Monster is a skilfully crafted, grippingly told & outstandingly performed biopic that is able to infuse shades of grey into what appears black & white from afar, and will always be memorable for Charlize Theron's career-best performance. Making the viewers feel sympathy for an unlikeable character is never an easy job but thanks to Patty Jenkins' refined script & first-rate direction, and Theron's total devotion to her role, Monster accomplishes that with effortless ease. Highly recommended.

When film actresses Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci walk out on red carpets at international film and awards festivals, they often look like they stepped out of a shoot with vogue magazine, donning satin gowns costing $1000's. And yet in "Monster", about the notorious and mentally-ill Aileen Wuornos and her lesbian lover, Theron and Ricci don the clothes and outlook of lower-middle and even lower-class America. No longer are they the elite of Hollywood but two struggling lower-class nobodies, except, unlike her girlfriend, Wuornos is mentally ill, possibly schizophrenic, and she eventually becomes a serial killer.Charlize Theron, in a performance which is nearly unbelievable in her transformation from Hollywood starlet to Midwest hooker for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, plays Aileen Wuornos, an unstable prostitute who engages in a romantic fling with a young lesbian, Selby, played by Christina Ricci in an equally-compelling performance. (Wuornos' real lover's name was Tyria Moore.) Selby is a misunderstood and somewhat unloved young woman constantly residing with different family members who don't know what to do with her. For them, her lesbian predilections are anti-Christian. She meets Aileen Wuornos in a gay bar in Florida, and she's the first woman to respond to Selby's advances. Although Aileen is a prostitute and very high-strung, often flying into rages for little reason, she seems at first harmless. Shortly thereafter, Wuornos takes on a "client" who drives her to the woods and subdues her. Wuornos breaks free and ends the prostitute-client relationship--violently.At the same time, Aileen and Selby's relationship is on the upswing, and they decide to run away together, infuriating the younger woman's family who know how Aileen makes her living. Aileen decides to renounce prostitution, but can't find a legitimate job. They are running out of money, and Selby is disillusioned with the entire affair. Her lover then returns to prostitution but with a twist. She's not going to engage in any sexual acts, as she had before. She's going to use her clients in a different way.This is a very dark story about the underside of American life. Part of what makes it very disturbing is how real everything is. The dive bars, the cheap cars, and broken down houses are places often not portrayed on the large screen. None of the characters are particularly likable, except Selby (Ricci). Her parents are god-fearing but seem very heartless. And Theron as Wuorno is so unbelievably convincing you can't reconcile what she does in this film with her persona at social events. After production, Theron and Ricci returned back to the world of the Hollywood elite, but this story is forever etched in celluloid.