ollywood has gone independent again, and this time it has created a monster. Ever since Halle Berry’s Oscar award-winning performance in “”Monster’s Ball,”” more than a few members of Hollywood’s “”A”” list have been itching to prove themselves in independent movie houses across America.
“”Monster,”” starring Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci, is most definitely a film trying to replicate the success of “”Monster’s Ball”” with a shockingly similar formula. The formula goes something like this: Take a Hollywood bombshell, stick her in a movie where she is fornicating with an unlikely partner (Berry has Billy Bob Thornton, and Theron has Ricci), throw it in independent movie houses, and wait for the nominations to roll in. Unfortunately, this formula went terribly wrong and, indeed, a monster was born.
The premise behind the film sounds intriguing enough; “”Monster”” is the true story of a hooker/serial killer (Aileen Wuornos) executed in Florida in 2002 after being convicted of murdering twelve of her johns. A transformed Theron plays Aileen, while Ricci plays Selby, a naive lesbian. Selby turns Aileen towards lesbianism over some beers, and hopes to live the fantasy life that comes along with being the lover of a $30-hooker in northeastern Florida.
The fascination that often surrounds the lives of serial killers is the driving voyeuristic force in this film, but ultimately Wuornos was an unworthy candidate for such an undertaking. The film’s attempts to evoke sympathy for Wuornos ultimately fail as a result of the thoughtless and often crazed nature of the killer. The film isn’t objectively, but unsteadily wavers between portrayals of Wournos. The more sympathetic light shows her as the unavoidable sum of the parts of her tragic life. Alternatively, she is portrayed as a female Gary Busey gone homicidal, incapable of evoking sympathy from the viewers.
Ultimately, the film’s purpose simply wasn’t clear. Theron’s annoying voice-overs give the entire film an x-rated movie-of-the-week type feel. On top of this, the film tries ‹ and fails ‹ at the very last second to be a love story. Perhaps the film’s biggest problem is that it is so violently disturbing that it is difficult to care about what is going on in the rest of the film. It is a shame that Theron put on nearly thirty pounds to star in this Hollywood trend taken too far. Avoid this monster at all costs.
