Angry Robot

Monster

This is basically an MOW with a fucking mindblowing performance by Theron. I had no idea she could act. As much as I hate the whole idea of Ugly-For-Oscar films like this, she really did a damn fine job. Nothing other than her performance is of interest, really – wait for video. Ebert needs to keep his pants on.

3 comments on "Monster"

  1. Sassy says:

    I really want to see this movie. Theron just won a golden globe tonight for her performance and there is much oscar buzz as well. Must check it out before then.

  2. marijke says:

    I thought Christina Ricci put in a good performance, too, although she was overshadowed by Theron.

    I actually really liked this film… I liked the way they manipulated your sympathies — not over-the-top, weepily sympathetic, but not on the she-was-a-complete-bitch-and-deserved-to-rot-in-hell end of things.

    My complaint: (Apologies if anyone considers this a spoiler. Actually, if you might consider it a spoiler, stop reading now) I didn’t like the fact that it focused so heavily on the relationship. I feel like films that are about lesbians who kill (I’m thinking of Heavenly Creatures, for example) tend to focus so much on the relationship. It’s a bit of Hey, look at this! She’s a lesbian! They’re two women, and they might be in love! Or they might be using each other. (Oh, by the way, one of them also kills people).
    Films about murderers who are in straight relationships tend to be more about He kills! He kills! He kills! (Oh, by the way, he has a weird sexual fetish, or he beats his wife, or he’s an absolute angel to his girlfriend, or his lover is on the killing spree with him, or whatever.) The relationship is more of an aside.

    I’m exaggerating for effect; Monster wasn’t entirely like that. But did I really need to be told that they never saw each other again? In text? Like a final period? I mean, they’d already shown me that. It seemed like overkill to tell me again.

  3. D says:

    I’d bet money that she’ll win best actress. In fact, most of the Oscars seem predictable this year, doncha think?

    And I’d agree with that, marijke – more killing!

    One thing that was interesting about the story that I left out for brevity was the fact that she seemed primarily motivated by financial reasons, rather than the usual psychopathology of serial killing that’s trotted out in most films. They pretty much presented the angry-hooker-getting-revenge-on-men thing as a sham cover story.

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