BEING THE RICARDOS MOVIE REVIEW

The numbers don’t lie: “I Love Lucy” was one of the most successful tv shows of all time. It was groundbreaking with having a mixed-race couple as its stars and it largely was the show that begat the television staple of syndication. It made its stars and creators, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, very rich,  powerful and beloved across the world. But it certainly wasn’t always easy and it didn’t last forever. Writer/director Aaron Sorkin (“Molly’s Game”) takes on the tale of the week that the show almost shut down even as it was one of the most popular things ever. Lucy (Nicole Kidman) has been accused by a newspaper columnist of secretly being a communist, Desi (Javier Bardem) has been accused by a scandal rag of cheating on Lucy, everyone is going crazy because Lucy is being an outrageous perfectionist, and even more chaos ensues. Interspersed between the days leading up to the live broadcast we are shown scenes from Lucy and Desi’s past: how they met, how they fell in love, how their careers began to falter, and how they ended up making the transfer from film to tv. With a shining cast, including J.K. Simmons as William Frawley (Fred), Nina Arianda as Vivian Vance (Ethel), Tony Hale as the executive producer, and Alia Shawkat and Jake Lacy as head writers, there’s a lot to love with Sorkin’s fast-paced snappy dialogue for them to say. Which isn’t to say that Chris, Frank, Harmoni, and Marco thought it was perfect. Listen to their review.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Aaron Sorkin

STARRING: Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, J.K. Simmons, Nina Arianda, Tony Hale, John Rubinstein, Alia Shawkat, Linda Lavin, Jake Lacy, Ronny Cox, Clark Gregg, Nelson Franklin, Robert Pine, Christopher Denham

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)

Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas in 1992 where ever since he’s dabbled in everything from plumber’s assistant to sandwich maker, from band to bar management. An opportunity to see theatrical release films for free by becoming a critic on a local public access show called “The Reel Deal” turned into a full-time job when Chris and his friends decided to take it to the internet. They built the site Spill.com, adding multiple podcasts and animated features, to no small amount of success. During this time, a fortuitous friendship sprung up between Chris and young Brian Salisbury, who was also a local film critic, and they merged their forces of will, and their laundry list of ideas for shows, to eventually build this community of critics. While Brian eventually followed his heart to a new family, Chris continues on with a cast of colorful folks from all over the country (and a few others). You can also check out Chris in his videocast, along with Martin Thomas and Danni Danger, that One Of Us does with our friends at Bell of Lost Souls: Crossover Event. He also regularly guests on the video game website Rage Select. Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook and check out his Amazon Wish List.

 

 

Harmoni Anderson (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews, Unstabletop Gaming)