Not a bad film, but Charlize was too distracting

Rating: 6/10 (7 December 2003)

Usually, when I go see a film where I know that an actor has radically changed their appearance, my interest is peaked another notch. And for good reason. Tom Hanks shut down production for almost a full year so that he could lose weight and grow a beard for his role in CastAway and who can forget Robert DeNiro's packing on the pounds for his role as Jake LaMatta in Martin Scorcese's Raging Bull? So when I first saw the trailers for Patty Jenkins' new film Monster, I was amazed to see the transformation of the lead character played by Charlize Theron. Sporting fake teeth, no make-up (or so it looks), stringy hair and enough extra weight to make three super-models, Charlize Theron transformed herself into the physical appearance of serial killer Aileen Wuornos.
But the fact that Charlize looks nothing like Charlize is actually a distraction for most of the movie. Such press has covered her transformation that when you first see Aileen Wuornos, you can't help but try and look for Ms. Theron under all the ugliness. The best way for me to explain it, is to have you think of Mel Gibson's character in Man Without A Face. Audiences were turned off or confused by Mel's new look and the movie grossed only $25 million domestically. We just couldn't get over something so beautiful looking so hideous.
And all this is unfortunate, because Monster is not a bad little indi-film. The movie is based on the true story of Aileen Wuornos who was responsible for the death of seven men, including one police officer, in Southern Florida. Aileen, we learn, comes from a tragic home life, where she was abused by a friend of the family and beaten by her father. This leads Aileen into a life of low self-esteem, prostitution and a hate for the male species that continues to deteriorate.
Then, in only a scenario where the planets would have aligned perfectly, Aileen falls in love with Shelby Wall (Christina Ricci) and the two run off together. It is within this relationship where Aileen falls deeper and deeper into her dark self as she resorts to a life of murder and crime to support Shelby's desire to live free and travel the world. All this comes crashing down when Aileen mistakenly kills a retired police officer and soon her life on the run ends in her capture and eventual death penalty sentence (Aileen was executed in Florida in 2002).
Typical to the indi-film experience, there are few characters in Monster, and that works to the films advantage since the movie was so brilliantly cast. Charlize towers over the smaller Christina and that helps us understand the power over the big eyed, naïve Shelby Wall. Where the film fails however, is in its attempt to elicit any emotional attachment between Aileen and the audience. When Aileen says good-bye to Shelby and puts her on a bus back to Ohio to protect her from the eventual capture for their wrong doings, you are not tugged by any heartstrings or feel anything for a character that so brutally murdered seven helpless males. Writer/director Patty Jenkins tries too hard to convert the audience into having sympathy for Aileen due to her abusive background and her compassion towards a nervous, first-time john that refuses to have rough sex with her.

Most of the focus of this film will be on Charlize and her new-found look, but it is Christina Ricci that really holds her own as the innocent lesbian lover that runs away from home and lives by the success and failures of Aileen's crimes. Christina's adoring stares and adolescent exuberance are a refreshing change of pace from the main characters heavy breathing and mothering tendencies.
So a small thumbs up for Monster. I just wish I didn't know who Charlize Theron was before the transformation. Maybe that way I would be more interested in the character and less interested on how much she looked like Jon Voight in drag.