Watched Monster, a powerful film in which Charlize Theron plays Aileen Wuornos, a female serial killer executed in 2002. The film had a special interest to me because it was a friend of a friend's writing and directing debut (Patty Jenkins). Enough has been said about Charlize Theron's transformative performance...you can barely recognize her. In addition to Charlize's performance, I found Christina Ricci quite effective playing her young naive lesbian lover. Ironically, I found Ricci quite attractive in this film. I've seen her in films, particularly the Opposite of Sex, in which she is supposed to be sexy and I've never found her all that attractive. In this film, she is quite attractive, which I found odd, being that she was a lesbian and all. Whatever.

This was one of the saddest films I've seen in a long time. You really feel for Charlize and Christina's struggling relationship, with issues of money, sexuality (Charlize is not gay, just looking for love), and well, Charlize's job hooking or robbery/murder. The sadness that permeates the love element is highlighted by the rapes and abuse dished out on Charlize's character. I'm not sure what to make of the end, a deeply cynical voice over, that somehow feels completely appropriate given the shit this women went through.

The major problem I had with the film was the fact the audience is expected to completely empathize with a serial killer. I don't know the real story at all. I imagine this depiction was particulary kind to Wuornos. What's odd is that I normally don't have many problems with fictional depictions of reality. I pretty much subscribe to not letting the truth get in the way of a good story. For some reason, I felt a little manipulated by this aspect of the film. But overall, the sadness that seems embedded in each and every scene and details is quite an accomplishment and I did quite enjoy this film. Better than Boys Don't Cry.