I can’t say that I knew much about Lucille Ball and even less about Desi Arnese before this film beyond seeing them on the I Love Lucy show. Without much of a connection otherwise, I still found this quite interesting. It was fairly crisp in its approach, functioning almost exclusively over the course of a few days, which proved to be significant in their lives. The juxtaposition of their relationship alongside the Lucy red scare allowed for intricate drama and insight of the time.
Kidman seemed to flit in and out of a nigh-uncanny resemblance with Lucy, depending on whether she was playing Lucy or Lucille. But she was doing a tremendous job, deftly navigating Sorkin’s dialogue. The supporting acting menagerie were also delivering some blistering lines, namely Simmons, Shawkat, and Bardem.
A decent pseudo-historic biography that benefited from the dry wit banter but languished in the banality of the material & direction. But, I think I liked it more than I expected, so there’s that.
