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Monster Newmarket Capital Group, Written / Directed by Patty Jenkins, Rated R Make no mistake - Monster owes every good word it receives to the unlikely Charlize Theron. Stripping away every semblance of physical beauty and bubblegum sidekick chick tendencies, Theron owns this film. Period. Charlize plays Aileen Wournos in the real-life story of hooker turned serial killer, written by Patty Jenkins. The story picks up as Wournos is about to blow her brains out but decides to postpone her grim decision to spend her last five dollars on a cheap drink. “Why not?” she states, if she didn’t spend it then she just blew a guy for free. Fortunately (or unfortunately for some would-be ’Johns’) she stumbles into a gay bar and meets the doe-eyed, sexually confused Selby (Christina Ricci) who befriends Aileen. A friendship blossoms between the two, although Selby wishes their relationship was more. Aileen, who is not gay, figures people is people and sex is sex, and she can’t do much worse than how guys have treated her so far. She starts to develop feelings for the young girl and decides to give Selby her wish. After all, what’s the difference if it’s a woman – she really just needs to love and be loved – by anyone. Selby’s unconditional love gives Wournos the courage to quit hooking and set herself straight. Unfortunately, she has no job history and is lacking the basic social behavior required to get through a job interview, an obvious result of having been a street prostitute from the age of thirteen. Frustrated with life and with bills piling up, Wournos reluctantly returns to hooking. Her first trick drives her out into the middle of the woods where he rapes and brutalizes her. She manages to break free and struggles with her assailant, eventually killing him in brawl. This kill triggers a rage within her that results in a string of copycat murders in which Aileen attracts a john, takes him into the middle of nowhere, and shoots him dead, stealing his possessions and transportation and returning to the unknowing arms of her beloved Selby. Monster alternates between scenes of horrifying murder – particularly the final killing, which is one of the hardest things to watch I’ve ever seen on screen – and scenes of intense love and fighting between the hard-edged Aileen and her antithesis Selby. The film spends most of its time on exploring the reasons Wournos killed - leading us to believe that she was a victim of her environment. A woman whom had never experienced unconditional love from another human being, once she had a taste of that love, she would do anything to keep it. In the process, she enjoys exacting revenge on the same type of men who prayed on her weakness in the past, and seems to take a certain amount of joy in finding the sickest, most perverted John’s she can find to rob and kill. But despite the heady subject matter, one person is charged with holding it all together, and that person is Charlize Theron. She sheds any hint of red-carpet dazzle and sports added weight, frizzed out hair, truck driver clothes, no makeup and a permanent frown in a transformation that rivals the classics. She owns this role from beginning to end, giving each frame an intensity and realism I never expected from an actress whos most notable roles have so far been in light dramatic fair like Mighty Joe Young and Sweet November. Traditional media has speculated that Theron will receive an Oscar nomination for her performance to which I reply: DAMN STRAIGHT! Looking back through 2003, there is no female lead performance this year that comes close to what Theron has achieved in Monster (except maybe Naomi Watts in 21 Grams, and even there Charlize has her beat hands down). Hers is a performance that is almost impossible to convey in words. If I had to, I’d sum it up in one statement, of which I do not take lightly. Theron is Wournos. Christina Ricci is also solid, but ultimately overshadowed by Theron’s performance. Patty Jenkins’ script and direction obviously complimented Theron throughout, although I get the feeling this film would have been a blip on the indie radar if Theron had not devoted herself so fully to the role. Monster is not an easy film to watch by any stretch of the imagination. At once brutal yet caring, Charlize Theron makes this film a must see for any fan of cinema. This is her calling card. A rebirth of an actress that obviously has more talent inside of her than ever imagined by most filmgoers. Go see this film. Now. ----------------- AWARDS GOLDEN GLOBES: Charlize Theron - Best Actress in a Drama CRITICS CHOICE: Charlize Theron - Best Actress NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS: Charlize Theron- Best Actress NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW: Charlize Theron - Breakthrough Performance ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY: Charlize Theron- Best Actress CNN RADIO MOVIE AWARDS: Charlize Theron - Best Actress CNN RADIO MOVIE AWARDS: Christina Ricci - Best Supporting Actress SEATTLE FILM CRITICS: Charlize Theron - Best Actress GOLDEN SATELITE AWARD: Charlize Theron - Best Actress SAN FRANCISCO CRITICS: Charlize Theron - Best Actress NEW YORK FILM CRITICS ONLINE: Charlize Theron - Best Actress SOUTH EASTERN FILM CRITICS: Charlize Theron - Best Actress BROADCAST FILM CRITICS: Charlize Theron - Best Actress LAS VEGAS FILM CRITICS SOCIETY: Charlize Theron - Best Actress DALLAS/FORT WORTH FILM CRITICS: Charlize Theron - Best Actress NOMINATIONS ACADEMY AWARD: Charlize Theron - Best Actress in a Leading Role SCREEN ACTORS GUILD: Charlize Theron - Best Actress GOLDEN GLOBES: Charlize Theron - Best Actress in a Drama IFP SPIRIT AWARDS: Charlize Theron - Best Lead Actress IFP SPIRIT AWARDS: Patty Jenkins - Best First Screen Play IFP SPIRIT AWARDS: Patty Jenkins - Best First Feature CHICAGO FILM CRITICS: Charlize Theron - Best Actress TOP TEN LISTS Roger Ebert`s #1 Film of the Year One of Richard Roeper`s 10 Best One of Susan Granger`s Top 10 One of the Years 10 Best-American Film Institute One of the Year`s 10 Best - Film Comment One of the Year`s 10 Best - WFUV Harlan Jacobsen One of the Year`s 10 Best - Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel One of the Year`s 10 Best - Associated Press Barry Caine Honorable Mention (Oakland Tribune) Matt Brunson Top 10 Creative Loafing Bob Mondello`s Best of the Rest NPR Roger Friedman - FOX News Brian Brooks - Indiewire Premiere Magazine: Charlize Theron - Best Actress -------------------- "Charlize Theron pulls off the year`s most astonishing screen makeover in Patty Jenkins`s film MONSTER." -Stephen Holden, New York Times "Ms. Theron`s transformation, supervised by the makeup wizard Toni G, is not just a matter of surfaces." -Stephen Holden, New York Times "The emotional intensity of her unforgettable performance recalls Hilary Swank`s Oscar winning turn in BOYS DON`T CRY." -Stephen Holden, New York Times "[Theron`s] unforgettable performance." -Stephen Holden, New York Times "Charlize Theron ignites the grim, disturbingly violent true-crime drama MONSTER with a gutsy, tour-de-force performance that should place her at the forefront of the Oscar race for best actress." -Megan Lehmann, New York Post "First time writer-director Patty Jenkins` has created an unflinching, yet sympathetic portrait." -Megan Lehmann, New York Post "It`s Theron`s complex, deeply felt depiction of a thoroughly messed-up soul that forces us to look beyond the monstrous nature in her acts." -Megan Lehmann, New York Post "Christina Ricci in one of her best performances to date." -Richard Roeper- Ebert & Roeper "Charlize Theron deserves an Academy Award." -Richard Roeper- Ebert & Roeper "Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern and Scott Wilson are superb." Leonard Maltin HOT TICKET "Double HOT!" Leonard Maltin & Joyce Kulhawik HOT TICKET "Theron and Ricci are so absorbing, and Jenkins` direction so deft." -John Anderson, Newsday "I haven`t used the word `tour de force` in all of 2003, but now it is time." -Jami Bernard, Daily News "Theron breaks through with a ferocious performance." -Peter Rainer, New York Magazine "The extraordinary makeup artist Toni G." -Peter Rainer, New York Magazine "Patty Jenkins` powerful début. -Donald Levit, Reel Talk "Monster is that rare type, a finely done film that engages." -Donald Levit, Reel Talk "Charlize Theron…provides an Academy Award-caliber take on one of the most sorrowful women of our time." Bruce Feld, Film Journal "Theron gives a gutsy and gritty performance." -Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter "Steven Bernstein`s sharp, controlled cinematography." -Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter "Jenkins, a first-time director of remarkable assurance and sophistication." -Ella Taylor, LA Weekly "Patty Jenkins` tough and tender movie." -Ella Taylor, LA Weekly "Theron`s bravura performance." -Nicole Keeter, Time Out New York "`Monster`, as directed by Jenkins, has whirlwind force." William Wolf ,Wolf Entertainment guide "Not since De Niro in Raging Bull has an actor pulled off so thorough a physical transformation." Glenn Kenny, Premiere Magazine "Theron finds not only the toughened harshness and anger, but also the damaged vulnerability, sadness and need in Wuornos, making her work here thoroughly convincing and empathetic" - David Rooney, Variety "…an assured feature bow for Jenkins" - David Rooney, Variety "Charlize Theron gives one of the year`s best performances; she is astonishing". - Jeffrey Lyons, NBC "Let me tell you right now: Theron`s stripped down, raw performance could easily get her nominated for every major award. She could even win the Oscar. She is that good. " - Roger Freidman, FOX News " Theron is a shoo-in for this chilling tour-de-force" - Anne Thompson, The Observer "Two thumbs way up for the brilliant `Monster.`" -Ebert & Roeper "Like `Badlands` and `The Executioner`s Song,` `Monster` is an unblinking portrait of a killer. In a performance that goes far beyond weight gain and makeup tricks, Charlize Theron deserves and Academy Award." -Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper "I was mesmerized by what was happening on the screen. What happens in this movie is almost beyond describing, and the performance by Charlize Theron is one of the best performances in the history of cinema." -Roger Ebert, Ebert & Roper -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EBERT & ROEPER TRANSCRIPT OF "MONSTER" REVIEW Air Date: 12/6/03 RICHARD ROEPER: Aileen Wournos was America`s first female serial killer - a hitchhiking prostitute who killed a number of male clients in the late 1980`s. And now her story is dramatized in writer/director Patty Jenkins` stark and disturbing "Monster," and this is an early review. The beautiful Charlize Theron undergoes one of the most astonishing physical transformations since Robert DeNiro in "Raging Bull." Here`s Theron in "The Italian Job…and as Wournos in "Monster." (clip) RICHARD: And that`s Christina Ricci in one of her best performances to date as Selby, a repressed and troubled girl. Aileen fascinates Selby--and Selby throws Aileen off guard with her naïve but sincere affection. (clip) --------------------------------- Genre: Crime / Drama (more) Plot Outline: A biopic on Aileen Carol Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was executed for killing seven men in the state of Florida during the 1980s. (more) User Comments: Charlize Theron is an extraordinary actress. (more) User Rating: 7.5/10 (1,021 votes) Cast overview, first billed only: Charlize Theron .... Aileen Christina Ricci .... Selby Bruce Dern .... Thomas Lee Tergesen .... Vincent Corey Annie Corley .... Donna Pruitt Taylor Vince .... Gene/Stuttering "John" Marco St. John .... Evan/Undercover "John" Marc Macaulay .... Will/Daddy "John" Scott Wilson .... Horton/Last "John" Rus Blackwell .... Cop Tim Ware .... Chuck Robb Chamberlain .... Lead Prosecutor Stephan Jones .... Lawyer Brett Rice .... Charles Kaitlin Riley .... Teenage Aileen (more) MPAA: Rated R for strong violence and sexual content, and for pervasive language. Runtime: USA:111 min Country: USA / Germany Language: English Color: Color Sound Mix: DTS / Dolby Digital Certification: USA:R / UK:18 ----------------------- |
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| aus der Diskussion: | EMS 521280 - Nach Golden Globe jetzt Oscar? |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | HolgiNils (28.01.04 14:13:12) |
| Beitrag: | 4 von 14 (ID:11985666) |
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