MONSTER - A review by Wіllіаm Bеll

Director/Writer: Pаtty Jеnkіns

Stars: Chаrlіzе Thеrоn, Chrіstіnа Rіccі, Brυcе Dеrn

Beauty: none

Nudity: a little, nothing appealing

Three questions spring to mind:

1) How do you make a movie with no beauty in it?

2) Why should you see a movie with no beauty in it?

3) Why write a review of a movie with no beauty in it?

The answer to number one is, incredibly well. Much has been said about Chаrlіzе Thеrоn's performance in this biopic about 80s serial killer, Aіlееn Cаrоl Wuornos, and rightly so. Theron is here transformed from her usual glamor image with the help of careful makeup and prosthetics, and becomes completely believable as the street hooker with no hint of glamor. It's a perfect performance, and if not for her voice, no one would recognize Theron here.

However, it is my opinion that the true genius behind this movie lies not in Theron, but in Pаtty Jеnkіns, the writer/director. She's able to tell the story of an abused and unfortunate woman, her lesbian romance, and her subsequent killing spree in such a way that the viewer can understand (if not condone) her behavior. The movie follows events almost entirely from "Lee"'s point of view, and as such we sympathize with her. Jenkins found a human story in these true events and tells it brilliantly. Watching the first act, which is the love story, one wants things to work out for Lee and Selby (Chrіstіnа Rіccі), and views with growing dread that something will go terribly wrong. Jenkins lets the actors command the screen, and as a director knows how to present her scenes in such a way that we can feel them as she planned. Such careful control and manipulation of an audience is rare. Jenkins takes us where she wants us to go, and we want her to do it. But because the movie presents us with the world of Aіlееn Wυоrnоs, it contains no beauty, since her actions and her fate were brought about through her inability to find beauty in life.

The answer to the second question is that this movie raises an issue even more crucial than that of beauty - an issue indeed that addresses the very means by which human beings are able to find and react to beauty - the issue of man's VOLITION. It adresses this issue and comes to conclusions dictated by the subject of the film, but the conclusions you may reach will depend on you - the important thing is to get people thinking and responding, and this the film certainly does.

In the crucial scene of the film (thematically), Lee bemoans her plight in a bar with Thomas (Brυcе Dеrn), her "only friend". He is quick to support her, saying that she never had a choice about who she is or what she does. People don't understand, he claims, and will never understand, the impact of circumstance. The story of this movie is essentially the story of a woman who is governed and destroyed by circumstance, a woman powerless to affect her station and unable to see any options other than those she takes [on a side note, the movie makes a rather bizarre comparison between this and Selby's homosexuality, which she claims is not her choice but rather is 'who I am'].

In short, this movie serves as a kind of warning about the dangers of allowing circumstance to govern you. If, like Aіlееn Wυоrnоs, you are shaped and moved by your circumstances, you will be destroyed just as she was. The fault in her case is probably not hers - she never learned that she was empowered to chose, and by the time she tried (motivated by the desire for a life of love with Selby), it was too late and her situation too far gone. This is a person abused and psychologically crippled from a young age, and when she should have been learning to empower herself and grow strong, she was being r4ped and beaten as a child. Perhaps she never did have a chance. However, we do, and viewers should come from this movie with a strong sense of the importance of valuing oneself and one's ability to choose a life for oneself, as well as a deeper understanding of how it is that some unfortunate people simlpy don't know they have such values or such choices open to them.

The answer to the final question should be obvious at this point - to invite others to experience a film that while unpleasant and ugly, serves as a reminder of the importance of things that make such things the exception rather than the rule. To think and understand that it's only your power to control your own destiny that makes you different from Aіlееn Wυоrnоs, and to cherish and use that power in the knowledge and appreciation that it is responsible for everything good you love or find beautiful.

© 2004 Body in Mind and Wіllіаm Bеll