Being the Ricardos (2021)

CinemaSerf

6.0

Mar 27, 2022

I vaguely recall watching "I Love Lucy" - or perhaps I just recall that memorable theme tune, but I have to say I knew nothing at all about the "Desilu" couple before watching this. As ever, it has Sorkin's trademark dialogue - quickly paced, pithy at times; but somehow the performances just didn't catch fire. Kidman is a very versatile actress, she can turn her hand to just abut anything - but for this to have worked better, she would have needed a more convincing foil. Javier Bardem just isn't him. Their lively relationship is suggested rather than demonstrated and much of what made them the…

There are two lines of dialogue in Being the Ricardos that really caught my attention. One is “I literally said that 30 seconds ago,” and the other is “It takes fewer words to say that than the truth.” This film feels like a lot of the former when it should be more of the latter. Why does a movie called Being the Ricardos spends so much time on Ethel/Vivian Vance (Nina Arianda) and Fred/William Frawley (J.K. Simmons), whom nobody cared about 70 years ago, and no one cares about today? Speaking of redundant characters, writer/director Aaron Sorkin aims to give the film a documentary feel…