(CNN)Presenting a acold richer communicative than a elemental biopic, "Being the Ricardos" turns writer-director Aaron Sorkin escaped again connected the mean of tv and produces 1 of the year's astir satisfying movies. That it was made for a streaming service, Amazon, is simply a wrinkle adjacent the legendarily foresighted Desi Arnaz surely couldn't person imagined.
In a clever framing device, Sorkin builds the communicative astir a "scary week" successful the lives of Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and her husband/co-star Arnaz (Javier Bardem), arsenic filtered done the recollections of those who worked connected their top-rated sitcom, "I Love Lucy." The movie past uses that confined model to revisit the couple's courtship and however they conquered TV done a bid of deftly constructed flashbacks.
The crises for the duo look connected 2 fronts: An anonymous point from vigor prima Walter Winchell implying that Ball is simply a communist (there's an explanation, but not 1 that mightiness fulfill red-baiting critics oregon tense web executives); and tabloid photos of Arnaz with different woman, fueling Lucy's suspicions, contempt his denials, astir the philandering that would yet interruption them apart.
Those elements truly specify the film, overmuch much than the casting and absurd sight-unseen second-guessing that it triggered. As for that, Kidman mightiness not peculiarly lucifer Lucy but she utterly captures her originative genius, imperious demeanor successful dealing with the writers -- enforcement shaper Jess Oppenheimer (Tony Hale) absorbs the brunt of the maltreatment -- and her show-first attitude, adjacent if that meant relegating co-star Vivian Vance (Nina Arianda) to frumpy frocks that she hated.
When they conscionable Desi instantly recognizes her talent, calling her "kinetically gifted," skills that would aboriginal beryllium enactment to bully usage successful the show's ample slapstick. As for her cold-blooded demeanor and designation of the clout the brace wielded astatine that moment, it's champion summed up by a country erstwhile idiosyncratic asks her if she's joking.
"I'm Lucille Ball," she responds icily. "When I'm being comic you'll cognize it."
The underlying conceit down "Being the Ricardos" is that contempt their success, Ball and Arnaz's aboriginal faced existent jeopardy during that week, creating a hostility among the unit and formed that brought retired the champion and worst successful everybody. That includes a spectacularly comic supporting crook by J.K. Simmons arsenic co-star William Frawley, who references his vaudeville vocation and boasts astir drinking excessively without really getting drunk.
Counting Lucy and Desi's kids among its producers, "Being the Ricardos" treats some mildly but doesn't whitewash the narration oregon characters, including the information that Lucy went into tv successful bid to support her hubby astatine location and yet inactive couldn't prevention the marriage.
"Every determination I marque is based connected being adjacent you," she insists, during an earlier infinitesimal erstwhile the imaginable of much movie enactment beckons.
Throughout his vocation Sorkin has exhibited a knack for capturing some the creator process, which is hard to enactment connected film, and the high-stakes satellite of television. Although helium has much precocious gravitated to movies that antecedently took spot chiefly connected TV successful "Sports Night," "Studio 60 connected the Sunset Strip" and "The Newsroom."
No substance however galore times you've watched those classical "I Love Lucy" episodes (or not astatine all), it's apt you'll travel distant from "Being the Ricardos" with a greater appreciation for the cardinal couple's talents arsenic good arsenic their idiosyncratic failings and foibles. In that, Sorkin has delivered a colorful representation that goes beyond the nostalgia-tinted hues of achromatic and white.
"Being the Ricardos" premieres successful prime US theaters connected Dec. 10 and Dec. 24 connected Amazon. It's rated R.
English (US) ·