Movie Reviews

If the sign of a great piece of acting is when an actor all but disappears into the role he or she is playing, in terms of personality, mannerisms, and even looks, then Charlize Theron's turn as real-life prostitute and serial killer Aileen Wuornos is truly great. Theron is unrecognizable as Wuornos, not just because of her make-up, but because of her true transformation on all fronts into the character.

Unfortunately, I had two fairly big problems with the movie. The first involves the very thing I just praised above: Charlize Theron. Her "transformation" is so complete and uncanny, that for about the first half of the film, I was actually distracted by it. I couldn't help but think, "Wow, is that really Charlize Theron? Yeah, I guess it is. Huh." A silly thing to complain about I suppose, but I just couldn't help it.

Second, I just didn't find the story all that gripping. Aileen and Selby, the young girl she finds herself in love with (played very well by Christina Ricci), are, for lack of kinder words, very naive and sort of dumb. And if there's one trait I really can't stand in people, it's when they blame others for the difficulties they bring upon themselves -- and Aileen and Selby spend much of the film doing just that. I suppose there could be some argument made about how society can horrifically shape a young innocent girl into the murdering prostitute as has happened with Aileen, but the film completely steers away from that issue, and left me feeling only that Aileen was simply a bad person.

Monster is definitely worth seeing for Theron's amazing performance, and I have a huge amount of respect for what she does here. Unfortunately I didn't find the rest of the movie very compelling.