Being the Ricardos

Originally published on social media December 27th, 2021.

My review of “Being the Ricardo’s” —

If I had to review this movie in one sentence I would say the following: Being The Ricardo’s is written from a man’s perspective, and as a result makes Lucille Ball seem like an enemy. There have been comments from people who worked on I Love Lucy that have claimed that Lucille Ball was tough to work with, but none of them denied that she was a genius. This movie brings light to some of her (and Desi’s) brilliance, but rather than acknowledging her and Desi as trailblazers of television, the movie makes them look like control freaks that everyone fears and perhaps despises. This was especially shown in Sorkin’s depiction of Vivian Vance’s and Lucille Ball’s relationship. Yes, the two were not best friends right away but they did become best friends and should have been known as best friends by the timing this film takes place.

Speaking of that, as has already been acknowledged, the timeline is inaccurate placing three true events that happened at separate times into one week. Messing with the real life timeline exaggerated the way the characters (or real life people) responded to each other in the film. Any flaws in this film are not due to the actors, who did a surprisingly great job, but is at fault with the writing and directing. Sorkin is a good writer and apparently is a fan of Desi Arnez and Lucille Ball, but his film is a depressing exposé of disrespect and malice towards America’s favorite red head. As a result, my opinion of him has lowered. It does not help that the lighting of the film is very dark and the musical score is melancholy.

This movie is rated R, and the very things that make it rated R should have been cut from the film altogether including the unnecessary sex scenes and excessive swearing (at time). Being a huge fan of I Love Lucy, I think it is a shame that this film did not truly honor the work of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez. Lucy and Desi had their faults, they were inspirational and their story should be shared with young people. In making a rated R movie, Sorkin missed out on the opportunity to teach young people how to love Lucy.

My rating: .5

Ps: I still love Lucy.