Monster (2003)

The MonsterEven though there are plenty of biographies that are acclaimed and created with passion and enthusiasm, very few of them depicts the accurate mirror on screen and not spend the time on justifying the events or the characters revolving around it and this is where it stands alone, which is in its smarter approach and newer perspective. The adaptation is witty, to-the-point and effective as it is free from the boundaries that usually restraints the track. Petty Jenkins; the writer-director, executes her anticipated vision which is brighter and sometimes funnier too contradict to its premise. Charlize Theron is the heart of the feature that keeps it pumping faster and harder than ever and is supported decently by Christina Ricci. It is short on technical aspects like sound department and camera work; it could have been shot more wisely and subtly, but is edited perfectly. The only crisis in it is the chemistry among the lead characters; despite of stellar performances, comes off a bit shallow. The Monster is the inner voice of an enraging beauty and the seductive beasts that neither befalls on a definite lap nor keeps the raised questions hanging in the air.

Depressing, dark and dismal, Monster is the true story of Aileen, a prostitute turned serial killer.Charlize Theron is both stunning and disgusting as Aileen, such a beautiful actress in her other films, and in real life, however in Monster she's absolutely hideous as Aileen, the make up guys must have put a shift in to make her look this ugly. Fed up of hooking every night on the edge of the freeway, Aileen aims to turn her life around and soon meets the meek little girl, Selby, gradually the couple fall deeper in love, and both have to accept that there is indeed some lesbian in each of them, evidenced by the scenes depicting them kissing and fooling around, also they share a bed, and it is implied that they have also had sex. During this early period, Aileen attempts to secure herself a steady job , going to several interviews, but sadly, the lack of experience, and her previous life choices let her down each time and eventually she accepts that she is unemployable as a result. But the couple need money, so Aileen has no choice but to go back to the one thing she's always been good at, hooking. One night while at work, a man stops, picks her up, obviously wanting her services, but the man is brutal and vicious, beating poor Aileen to within an inch of her life, out of sheer desperation Aileen struggles free and kills the man in cold blood. A fatal mistake, and was this the end? Oh no, it was just the beginning! A light bulb went on in Aileen's head, from then on, instead of simply hooking, she would instead flag these nasty men down, take them somewhere secluded and kill them, then steal all their money, hey, it's far more profitable, plus she gets to kill nasty, violent men, what's not to like?One day she took it one step too far, by killing a cop, this proved to be Aileen's downfall and eventually she was caught, arrested and sentenced to death in court. Personally I enjoyed Monster it was just very difficult to watch, I was drawn in and became quite sympathetic to Aileen, but my heart went out to Selby even more so, a simple, frightened girl who is pretty much brainwashed into being Aileen's sidekick and partner, should've stayed at home Selby, carved out a better, legal life for yourself, and I continued saying this every time the character was on the screen.Charlize Theron won the academy award for best actress for Monster, a rightful choice, she was absolutely superb as Aileen, just as I said earlier, unattractive and rather disgusting. She was the first female serial killer in America, and her story is well told, my only snag is the runtime and the fact it could have broke the 2 hour mark rather than being a little over an hour and 40 minutes.

Here we have the Oscar-winning "Monster", an American biopic movie from 2003 that will have its 15th anniversary next year. These 105 minutes are the most known work by writer and director Patty Jenkins, which may change when her new Wonder Woman movie will finally come out. And it is also the career-defining performance by South African actress Charlize Theron. In here she plays Aileen Wuornos a prostitute and serial killer who had her very own way of dealing with clients. And while I am sure that a lot was added in this film for drama purposes, I am perfectly fine with it as it makes the entire film more interesting. I am honestly personally not too sure if Wuornos' life or character justify a biopic, but the way things looked here, it is okay. Was she really driven by inner demons/forces to kill these men the way it is depicted during the last killing scene? Was she really that upset by authority and rejection as we see during her job interview? Did she really hate men as much as it was depicted in here? I don't know. But regardless of what the true answers to these questions may be, it all works pretty well in this movie.As for Theron, she dominated the awards season with her portrayal here and a lot of this may have to do with how she went for ugliness. Theron known as one of the most stunning women/actresses on the planet looks homely here from start to finish. So the make-up sure helped her a lot in her ambitions. And what also helped was the fact that Theron's character was depicted as a human being with feelings and emotions despite the horrible acts she committed on these many occasions. That final murder scene I already mentioned and also of course her relationship with Ricci's character show that very well. Eventually, she is the one who may have been cured if her girlfriend loved her as much as she loved her too, but this was not the case. Anyway, all in all, I personally found nothing really too memorable here apart from Theron's performance and I guess many thought the same as the film received not too much recognition at awards ceremonies beyond that, for example no Best Picture or writing nominations at the Oscars. With Theron, a nomination may have been enough, but I am also okay with the win I guess, even if I'd never consider it one of the greatest Best Actress winners / female performances. From 2003 for example, it is certainly not on par with Scarlett Johansson in "Lost in Translation". That's why seeing "Monster" once is enough. But seeing it once is also very much recommended. Thumbs up. Final note: Bruce Dern is a much better actor than what he was allowed to show us here. Extremely underused.

For some reason, this movie slipped off of my watch-list a decade ago when I should have watched it. Perhaps I thought it's yet another chick flick or something that I didn't want to be bothered with. Recently however I bumped into it again, and I must admit that I regret not having watched it before. I always liked Charlize Theron as an actress, but this movie proves many new things about her capabilities. Being all beautiful and awesome, she has always been casted to play the sexy or the bad-ass yet still sexy gal. But here, with all the make up and turns, this is just pure acting, and she somehow manages to do it to perfection. Hats off to her and to Patty Jenkins who both have been able to come up with such a strong character development, perfect story line and such a great performance.