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TITLE: Monster

RATING: ****½

CAST: Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern, Lee Tergeson, Annie Corley, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Marco St. John, Marc Macaulay, Scott Wilson, Rus Blackwell, Tim Ware, Stephan Jones, Brett Rice, Kaitlin Riley, Cree Ivey, Catherine Mangan, Magdalena Manville, T. Robert Pigott, Kane Hodder.

DIRECTOR: Patty Jenkins

STUDIO: Media 8 Entertainment / DEJ Productions / K/W Productions / Denver and Delilah Productions / MDP Worldwide & VIP2 Miedenfonds

RUNNING TIME: 109 min.

RATED R (US), 18 (UK); for strong, bloody violence, sexuality/nudity, and pervasive strong language. >>>>>

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SOME WERE BORN TO SING THE BLUES
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“I always wanted to be in the movies. When I was little, I thought for sure that one day, I could be a big, big star---or maybe just beautiful---and be rich, like the women on TV. Yeah, I had a lot of dreams. But I guess you could call me a real romantic, because I thought one day, it would all come true. So I dreamed about it for hours; as the years went by, I learned to stop sharing this with people. They said I was dreaming, but back then, I believed it whole-heartedly. So whenever I was down, I would just escape in my mind---to my other life, which was somewhere else. It made me happy to think that all of these people just didn’t know yet who I was going to be. But one day---they would all see. I heard that Marilyn Monroe was discovered in a soda shop, and I thought that for sure, it could be like that. So I started going out real young and I was always secretly thinking who was going to discover me. It was nice, but one day it all just stopped…”

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WHO WAS AILEEN WUORNOS?
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Aileen Wuornos became famous as being the first convicted female serial killer in the U.S.; she had murdered seven men, and served on Florida’s Death Row for 12 years before being put to death on October 9th, 2002, at 9 a.m. Tonight I will be reviewing MONSTER, the highly praised film showcasing the “true story,” of Wuornos, seen through the eyes of first time feature film writer-director Patty Jenkins. When Charlize Theron won the Best Actress Oscar several months ago, I had practically no idea what the film was about, and thus I had never heard of Wuornos herself. I love films based on true stories, because I love learning about real people in real places, even if the filmmakers take special liberties to tell the story, and MONSTER is probably no exception. In this film, Jenkins asks her audience a most unusual question: should we feel sympathy toward a serial killer? Of course, it all depends on one’s personal perspective. As for myself, after buying the film on DVD and watching it several nights ago, I will say that she had no excuse for what she did, though she did have reasons.

According to the facts of the real-life case, Aileen (better known as Lee) was abandoned by her mother in 1960, and sent to live with her grandparents. At 14 years of age, Lee became pregnant and was sent to a home for unwed mothers; eventually, she put her child up for adoption. She dropped out of school altogether, and spent her teenage years in the dangerous world of highway prostitution. She actually married at age 21, to a man 48 years older than her, though the union didn’t last; they divorced after her husband obtained a restraining order after she had thrown a billiard ball in the back of his head. By 1986, her life was at its lowest point; she was contemplating suicide until she met Tyria Moore, and they began a relationship in no time, even while Lee continued her hooking near Daytona Beach, Florida. Three years later, unidentified bodies started turning up all over Florida, all shot with the same gun…a .22 caliber. Police had absolutely no leads, though an accident involving Lee and Tyria and one of the victim’s cars would cause a witness to come forward and produce sketches of them.

Concluding a long police investigation, which included pawned items found belonging to the victims, fingerprints discovered, and aliases of the killer, they finally caught up with Lee in January, 1991, at a Florida bar named the The Last Resort. Tyria was eventually found in Pennsylvania, though she wasn’t arrested, but asked questions by the authorities. What started then was a series of phone calls between Tyria and Lee, which were being monitored by the authorities, hoping that Lee would confess to the murders. Lee promised Tyria that she would not go down with her, that it was all her own doing, and she confessed to having committed the murders, though she stipulated that they were all done out of self-defense, bringing up shocking stories of torture and rape that was inflicted upon her. As a result, the media started taking up details of the story, as they were made available. Lee had found a lawyer, and soon was determined to fight to the end with her case. How could Aileen respond to seven murders and claim to be innocent or, at the very least, misjudged? That is what Patty Jenkins’ film attempts to answer, which has been taken from thousands of letters written by Wuormos herself, as well Aileen’s public and private confessions and reasons for the slayings.

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STREETLIGHT PEOPLE LIVING TO FIND EMOTION
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MONSTER opens up in 1986, just before Lee meets Selby (based on the character of Tyria), in a gay bar in Florida. Aileen had made a pact that after she would spend her last five dollars, that she would kill herself, though meeting Selby would make her think twice, as they became friendly and got to know each other. Selby was sent to live with friends in Florida because her parents her wanted to drive her away from a girl she allegedly kissed at a church. Now Lee is not a lesbian, yet she falls in love with Selby because for the first time in her life, Lee is shown genuine love and compassion by another person. However, Lee is still hooking on the Florida interstates to support herself; things change, however, when one of her “johns” brutally beats and rapes her (complete with burning her face with rubbing alcohol), causing her to take action by shooting him to death with a .22 caliber gun. The physical and emotional pain that she suffers from this incident makes her to want to turn her life around, by going straight, and quitting prostitution forever.

Lee convinces Selby to run away with her, as they move into a motel room; while Selby lounges around, Lee takes on the task of finding a job, which she discovers is more difficult than she imagined. With no education record and being convicted of a felony, Lee has no choice but to continue the only job she has ever had; though her repulsion of men has now grown to increased heights, and she starts shooting her clients, burying the bodies, stealing their cars, and returning home to Selby with the money that she has stolen from her victims. As the film progresses, their relationship runs hot-and-cold, as Selby complains about her starving, her suspicions that Lee may be using her, and most of all, when she learns of what Lee is really doing every night that she is away from her. After an accident with one of the cars that Lee steals however, they soon are seen, which eventually leads to sketches of them being shown on TV as suspects in the murders.

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SOME WILL WIN, SOME WILL LOSE
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While Aileen may have failed at creating a new life for herself (as well as convincing her innocence to the jury before she was sentenced to death), the actress that portrayed her would eventually win more than 15 separate awards for her performance. I must confess that Charlize Theron never really made an impression on me with most of her films. Born in 1975 in South Africa, she started her career in ballet, until an injury caused her to leave her one true passion. She soon went to California to find a job in acting, and ultimately made an impressive debut in the 1996 film noir 2 DAYS IN THE VALLEY, as James Spader’s sexy, manipulative girlfriend. I praised her for her performance and soon starting seen her pop up in a string of fine films, most notably DEVIL’S ADVOCATE and MEN OF HONOR. To be honest, she would be one of the last actresses that I would expect to eventually win an Oscar for Best Actress---though she did so on February 29, 2004; ironically, that was Aileen Wuornos’ actual birthday.

Her performance as Aileen in MONSTER makes the film a virtual must-see...and even makes up for all the film’s flaws, including director Jenkins’ indulgences---as well as her rather sanctimonious attitude towards the truth. Regardless of what you think of Aileen Wuornos, however, Theron gives in interpretation that is heartbreakingly believable, genuinely emotional, compellingly gritty, and just plain unforgettable. In fact, I even agree with famous film critic’s Roger Ebert’s assessment that it is truly, “one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema.” Those of who have seen how stunning and radiant Theron has been in her previous films: you seen nothing yet here! She is not even barely recognizable, as she sports a seamless, completely convincing make-up job, where her face is completely covered with acne and with almost no color, dentures that would make Austin Powers’ teeth look good, as well as a monstrously chunky body which is the result of Theron putting an impressive 30 pounds on her (sorry, not sure how much that is in stone, lol).

Theron’s remarkable transformation was made possible by her personal make-up artist, Toni G, whose department was honored with an Oscar in 2000 for turning Jim Carrey into Dr. Seuss’ THE GRINCH; this is all I’m going to say: I have now found one award that LORD OF THE RINGS did not deserve, and that was Best Makeup. The way that Theron expresses her eyes in several scenes made chills run down my body and the way that she carried herself was perfectly timed; hell, even the way she lit up a cigarette in every single scene impressed me. However, her most stunning feature---which was copied from Aileen perfectly---was her extremely unsettling frown, which made it difficult for her to express any smiles. Practically the entire time I was convinced that wasn’t Charlize Theron merely acting: she WAS Aileen Wuornos. As shocking and disturbing as the story may be, Theron’s exceptional and unforgettable performance makes it all worthwhile, and I hope that people out there will see this film just for her.

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FOR A SMILE THEY CAN SHARE THE NIGHT
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One other problem I had with MONSTER’s structure, is that I wondered how many times that Jenkins had watched the 1999 film BOYS DON’T CRY before starting to roll the cameras on this film. Granted, they are two different stories, both based on real-life events, though there were some similarities between the two, which I wasn’t able to ignore. For example, there is a well-done sequence in MONSTER at a roller skating rink, where Selby and Lee kiss for the first time; in BOYS DON’T CRY, the film opens up at a roller skating rink, where Teena Brandon kisses a girl afterward. It was clear to me that Jenkins possibly developed the lesbian relationship in MONSTER in similar ways to the one in BOYS DON’T CRY, though I was able to shrug it off quickly because Jenkins develops it well and unpredictably in her film. The roller-skating rink sequence is actually very romantic, as they kiss to a song by Journey (“Don’t Stop Believin’”), which I think is one of the best bands of the 1980s, and the song serves almost as an anthem for the film.

Regardless of what others may think, I bought the relationship between Selby and Lee every step of the way. From all accounts I’ve heard and read, Jenkins did a careful job of detailing the love story as accurately as possible, most notably how they meet, as well as the final heartbreaking conversations over the phone near the end of the film, just before Selby turns against Lee in court. In addition, Christina Ricci brings Selby to life with just the right amount of naiveté, sweetness, and tenderness, contrasting perfectly with Theron’s violent outbursts and temper tantrums. The one scene that Theron and Ricci that really got to me was the one where Ricci was starting to go insane, due to lack of hunger and not trusting who she has run off with, and Theron confesses to her why she can’t go back to her old life as a prostitute. I also commend Jenkins on the note that she kept the love story very tasteful and not showing off the actresses' bodies for titillation purposes. While Ricci didn’t even get nominated for Best Supporting Actress, (I’m still glad Renee Zellweger won for COLD MOUNTAIN) I must say that she is very underrated, and how her powerful performance here got overlooked I have no idea.

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A SINGER IN A SMOKY ROOM
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While Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” plays at key points throughout MONSTER, and actually compliments the story and characters in many ways, the whole soundtrack is full of wonderful, classic 1980s rock songs. Kudos to music supervisor Howard Paar for choosing tunes from a number of bands, including Humble Pie, Blondie, Duran Duran, INXS, Searchers, Molly Hatchett, REO Speedwagon, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. One thing I must mention is that Steve Perry, who is the lead singer for Journey, is actually very good friends with Jenkins and served as a music consultant for the film; I guess he contested that “Don’t Stop Believin,” would be the perfect theme song for the movie, and he was right.

The emotional drama of the film was greatly enhanced by an extraordinary score by a musician who I have never heard of, and his credited name is “BT,” which is the initials for his real name, Brian Transleau. Before coming onboard to work on MONSTER, he had done a string of scores for films I didn’t like, though the scores were fast and rocked hard; his resume includes the films FAST AND THE FURIOUS, DRIVEN, and GO. In an interview he gave on the DVD, he mentioned that after doing FURIOUS, he was asked to do a million race car/motorcycle action pics, though he wanted to do something more serious, and as soon as he read the script for MONSTER, he knew he had to do it. Jenkins was pleased, and surely I was too; just a magnificent score, particularly in the film’s closing scenes. I'm going to be ordering the soundtrack very soon as a matter of fact, which was released only a few weeks ago.

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SMELL OF WINE AND CHEAP PERFUME
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As with most films based on true stories, we are asked what to believe and what not to believe; was Aileen really just a cold-blooded killer, or a victim of circumstance, whose violent behavior was brought on by a childhood full of abuse and no love? What I truly believe, as the film comments on, is that Aileen was virtually alone for all of her life, and she wanted to find happiness anyway she could. Aileen saw Selby as a chance for that happiness, because for the first time in Aileen’s life, she felt loved, especially at a crucial time when she was suicidal. In Jenkins’ script, she speculates that age 8 she was molested and sexually abused by her father’s friends, and five years later was beaten by her own father, even though in real-life Aileen never grew up with her father. However, the father and friends is part of the dramatization; according to Aileen herself, she was beaten, raped, and abused numerous times throughout her childhood, and the pregnancy is accurately mentioned in the film. The defense for which Aileen must have put forward for the reasons of killing seven (or maybe even more men), is that she had just had enough, by the time her first victim assaulted her.

What is really ironic and intriguing, however, is that her victims are depicted (as time goes along) as more and more innocent in terms of their characterizations; in other words, Aileen was afraid that anything might happen to her so she killed always in self-defense to prevent anything from happening, but with each new victim she was confronting a more decent person. By the time she reached her last victim, which was really a Good Samaritan attempting to help her any he could, I felt that she had gone way too far in her crimes, and I’m sure other viewers felt that way too. Like I said before, it is all dependant on one’s personal view to feel sympathy for her character; I will state that she did indeed touch me on an emotional level---both the character, and especially Theron’s performance. Despite some of the questions I have about what Jenkins’ true view on Aileen and the controversy surrounding her is, I still think she was able to tell a great story and give an excellent insight in to the life---and death---of the first female serial killer in U.S history.

Now, it’s time for you to check the film out for yourselves, dear readers. If you want to learn more about Wuornos and see many of her actual interviews, I highly recommend you searching out the 1992 documentary AILEEN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER, which is now available on DVD. However you can also obtain many books on the subject, including “On A Killing Day: The Bizaare Story of Convicted Murderer Aileen Lee Wuornos,” by Doloros Kennedy and “The Female Homicide Offender: Serial Murder and the Case of Aileen Wuornos,” by Stacey Shipley and Bruce A. Arrigo; the ISBN numbers for these two books are #15617112930 and #0131141619. The most popular book on Wuormos currently, however, is Sue Russell’s “Deadly Intent,” (ISBN#0786015187) which was released only one month after Wuormos’ death. While I’m sure that MONSTER is playing at a few more theaters in the UK, the Region 2 DVD release date is set for September. You can also obtain the 2-disc soundtrack (ASIN# B0001ADAVU) by BT for only 10 pounds at any music store. I hope you enjoyed reading this review, and I’ll let you know that my next one will be on the 1979 film ICE CASTLES. Take care, and I look forward to all your comments. Chris xxxxx

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QUOTES & TRIVIA
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1) “I’m just on my day off.” --- Charlize Theron “Oh, really, what’s a day off for a whore? Going to church or something?” --- Police Officer

2) “I thought you didn’t like girls!” --- Christina Ricci “I didn’t like anyone really!” --- Charlize Theron

3) “Can I just give it to you straight, ok? The truth is I’m a hooker, and I’ve been trying to clean my life up, go straight and Christian and all that. So, is there anything you can help me with?” --- Charlize Theron

4) “I’m telling you that I’m starving, Lee, and did you think for a second that I was going to support you in any of this. Did you even have it in your head to f*ck me for support, because I’m so hard up!” --- Christina Ricci

5) “It’s just that everyone thinks I’m a bad, shitty, f*cking person, and the truth is I’m just trying to survive, ya know?” --- Charlize Theron

6) “I know what you do for a living…doesn’t bother me. I know that you didn’t dial it up on a goddamn telephone! That’s where you landed, that’s what you had to do. Truthfully, all you’re feeling right now is guilt for something you had no control over!” --- Bruce Dern

7) “I’ve done everything in the whole wide world hoping that you would never have to know, so you could go on thinking that everyone is good and kind and that it all makes sense. That’s what I love about you, Sel.” --- Charlize Theron “Look, Lee, we can be as different as we want to be, but you can’t kill people….” --- Christina Ricci “SAYS WHO?????” --- Charlize Theron

8) “I just want to live, Lee, I just want to live a normal, happy life and I don’t know why I did this.” --- Christina Ricci “Because I love you! Cause I love you with my heart, my soul, my mind, and I would never let you down all right. It was me, it was only me! And I will let them know that, ok? --- Charlize Theron

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Trivia Note #1: Kane Hodder, who played Jason Voorhees in four FRIDAY THE 13TH films, plays one of the undercover cops near the end that arrests Wuornos; he also served as stunt coordinator on the film.

Trivia Note #2: Co-star Pruitt Taylor Vince, who plays the stuttering “john,” played Kevin Bacon’s kidnapping partner in TRAPPED, a 2001 film which also starred Charlize Theron.

Trivia Note #3: What inspired Patty Jenkins to cast Charlize Theron in the starring role was a scene in DEVIL’S ADVOCATE. She mentioned that an actress that would allow a close up of a running nose, as Charlize did, would be ideal for the challenging role of Aileen Wuormos.

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