Theron's Success!

Rating: 7/10 (30 April 2004)

Another serial killer portrait, and even one based upon a true story, it has been seen before, but there is of course a different angle to this one.
Aileen is a women who has lost all hope in life, she spends her afternoons sitting under a bridge with a gun in the hand trying to convince herself life is actually not worth living, she hates everyone, she hates men, she hates the world, there is no love in her, except her only friend, Thomas. One day in a bar she stumples across the young and insecure Selby. Selby is what Aileen was in her young life too, a lost soul. In Selby, Aileen finds love, her soul mate, her force to continue life, but things get complicated when she is forced to take care of Selby and her heart can not make her life the life she lived before Selby came along, after being raped, she kills her first victim, and her hate for men grows.
Considering that this movie is based upon a true story, naturally we know the end from the start. The story doesn't bring much new to the genre, everything it as it should be, the strength of the movie is the absolutely terrific portrait of Aileen, given by Charlize Theron. What a triumph this is for Theron, her absolute breakthrough, it's almost sad that she will never be able to play a character this well again, this is near perfection, and it gives the movie all the heart and soul it has, Charlize Theron simply is Monster!
Both direction and supporting roles are average of this movie, it's at times rather obvious that the director ain't the most experienced one, sometimes the storytelling slows too much down and makes for some rather boring moments, but overall it works pretty well, but again, it's mostly thank to Charlize Theron. However Christina Ricci also gives a good performance, a performance that is strongest in the start while she is very insecure, her first entrance in the movie, the scene in the bar, that's the best moment for Ricci in this movie.
Basically, this movie works good because Charlize Theron gives a performance that will make the audience feel her pain, without feeling that pain, this would have been just another movie, but in the end you can really feel the anger, the confusion, the sorrow. Everything she is feeling, i can't praise her performance enough, i thought Watts should have won the oscar, but now i understand why Theron got it, she is the heart and soul of an entire movie.
7/10