Ripped From The Headlines
"Monster" tells a sordid, unappealing story, ripped from the headlines. The filmmaking is straightforward: the story starts off not long before the first murder and progresses through a series of dead men in parked cars until Wuornos' apprehension and conviction. As with most biopics, the audience knows how the story ends from the get-go.
Perhaps the heart and soul of "Monster" belongs to Christina Ricci. As Wuornos' young lover Shelby, Ricci is heartbreakingly sweet, simple, and selfish, wrapped into a blue-jeaned tiny package with a bulky cast on her right arm. The early scenes of the film, when Ricci and Theron meet and fall in love, are the very best. Their slow dance and first kiss in a 1980's roller rink to a Journey song during couples dance had me spell-bound. However, while Selby is not as hateful as her serial murderer lover, she is not such a great girl herself. There is nobody here to root for, and as a love story, "Monster" quickly falls apart.
If "Monster" was meant to allow insight into the mind of a serial killer, I must admit I still don't quite understand or empathize. Perhaps it's simply not possible. Perhaps Nick Broomfield's documentary "Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer" has better answers. As for Charlize, she really does look awfully bad, and it seems that her gamble is paying off. Maybe she is going to follow in Berry's footsteps: take home her Oscar, add millions to her future paychecks, and take off her clothes for the next James Bond picture.
