A bit disappointing,actually

Rating: Null/10 (12 August 2004)

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs
The true life story of serial killer Aileen Wournos (Charlize Theron),a butt-ugly highway prostitute who was executed in 2002 after 12 years on death row for the murder of some of her clients after one tried to rape her (must have been desperate!)There's a sub-plot involving her lesbian relationship with a painfully shy girl with a religious upbringing named Selby (Christina Ricci).(These two would be better suited as lesbians as not many men would find them attractive.)
This was a film that I was looking forward to seeing with a huge amount of anticipation.The plot line,based on a true story,sounded very interesting,and everyone had raved about how good the performances were,in particular,Charlize Theron in the lead.And that is perhaps why I considered Monster to be such a let down as a film,as I always do when my expectations are very high.The film basically just failed to involve me in any way,performances or story wise.On the performances front,there were occasional flourishes here-and-there,but generally speaking it was all very under-whelming.And as for the story,there is a disappointing shortage of emotional depth invested in it.We just basically see Aileen in the state she was in in adulthood,and don't learn enough about the abuse and abandonment she endured through her life up until that point.There is a fairly effective snippet somewhere at the beginning,but it's just not enough to engage in the film the whole way through.
Okay,maybe it was actually a brilliant film,but it was recorded in such a low volume audio sound that I could only hear the lead stars mumbling out everything and I was unable to hear large chunks of dialogue that the actors were speaking,and so I was unable to take it all in.The only segment in which the film breaks free from this curse is in the soundtrack,which is very impressive and certainly very alive,loud and vibrant.The film is certainly a lot more low-budget and independent looking than I imagined,especially for one that went on to win an Oscar or two,not to mention shorter.A short,effective and to-the-point film is nothing for me to put down,but here it just feels as though the makers tried to cram too much in to such a small space of time and didn't give their project enough time to flourish and grow.
As I said,it's commendable in the soundtrack department and occasional high points throughout the film.And the make-up stylist did a very impressive job turning the stunningly attractive Theron into someone as unsightly as Aileen.But,considering what could have been,when that's the best there is,it really isn't saying much.
A let down.**