Well, there she is. Lucille Nicole Ballman. As you might have noted in your diary at the time, we had thoughts about Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem’s casting as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in Aaron Sorkin’s film, Being the Ricardos, so many thoughts that we devoted a post and part of a podcast to discussing them. The teaser trailer gave us pause and seemed to confirm our misgivings. The first full-length trailer is out and for better or worse, you get a complete look at how Kidman and Bardem did.
We won’t deny it’s jarring to see Kidman done up like Ball. The effect seems more eerie than on point most of the time. As we noted when we dissected the teaser trailer, actors don’t have to look exactly like the people they’re playing in biopics; Kristen Stewart’s turn as Princess Diana in Spencer being the best, most recent example of it. But we’re still struck by how the physicality of both characters seems way off; Kidman’s 21st Century size with 21st Century facial maintenance just doesn’t evoke Ball. She’s too delicate. On the flipside, Bardem’s rough masculinity and thickness are in total opposition to Arnaz’s soft-eyed pretty boy looks.
Having (re)stated all that…
This actually does look interesting enough and of high enough quality to make us want to see it as soon as possible. As per the usual with Kidman, the vocal work comes and goes, but there are times in there where she really nails the Lucyisms. The story is exactly the kind of thing Sorkin excels at and the rest of the cast look pretty great, especially J.K. Simmons as William Frawley and Nina Arianda as Vivian Vance. So mark us down as still skeptical, but more than willing to be proven wrong, given how much of it seems to work.
“Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) are threatened by shocking personal accusations, a political smear and cultural taboos in Academy Award®-winning writer and director Aaron Sorkin’s behind-the-scenes drama Being the Ricardos. A revealing glimpse of the couple’s complex romantic and professional relationship, the film takes audiences into the writers’ room, onto the soundstage and behind closed doors with Ball and Arnaz during one critical production week of their groundbreaking sitcom ‘I Love Lucy.’”
[Photo Credit: Amazon Studios – Video Credit: Amazon Prime Video/YouTube]
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