Being the Ricardos – 7

This was Aaron Sorkin in overdrive, with every scene in a five-day period a crisis, and more issues than I could count. Unfortunately–and this was a big problem–I could never accept Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz (whom I don’t know).  He was too big, too physical, too much Javier Bardem, and I couldn’t sense any chemistry with Nicole Kidman’s Lucy. The gap between Lucille Ball offstage and on was also a bridge too far. Interestingly, my favorite parts of the movie were the black-and-white recreations of actual “I Love Lucy” episodes. I’m sure the threat of Communist exposure was as real as depicted, but everything about that plot seemed overdramatized. Partly this was the fault of the portentous score. Perhaps Sorkin was trying to recreate the feel of a 1952 movie, but if so, that just added to the confusion of trying to shoehorn ten stories into one movie. As a six- or eight-part miniseries, each plot would have had room to breathe. But still, there would be Javier Bardem.