Not entirely flawless, but devastating nonetheless (***1/2)

Rating: 9/10 (8 January 2004)

You may have read a lot about Charlize Theron's astounding performance in "Monster" and her amazing transformation from being gorgeous and elegant to being haggard and rough-edged. Those reports have not been exaggerated. If she doesn't at least get an Oscar nomination for her role here (and say, Nicole Kidman does for "Cold Mountain"), I might not even watch the ceremony.
She plays Aileen Wuornos, the highway prostitute who murdered six clients back in 1988 and was executed last year. Not giving a whole lot in the way of background, the film concentrates only on a short amount of time in Wuornos' life, shortly before the murders, during, and shortly after.

Though she was not herself a lesbian, she began a relationship just before the murders with a naive, co-dependent lesbian named Selby (Christina Ricci), simply because she was so achingly lonely that she was willing to be with anyone who liked her.
Her first murder was in self-defense, and if it was anything like it's shown here (a extremely brutal beating and rape), it was well justified.

After that, she tries for a short while to go straight and get a real job, but fails miserably and goes back to hooking, killing some clients for money.
Writer/director Patty Jenkins doesn't shy away from showing all of Wuornos' killings for what they were after that first one: brutal and unnecessary (not self-defense, as the real Wuornos claimed ALL her killing were). But she also takes great strides to humanize the character, giving her genuine feelings and a desperate romance (including a truly romantic roller skating scene set to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'") that arouses feeling of sympathy in us, which is surprising and gives her character (who really is a monster, there's no doubt about that) truly tragic shadings. We despise her for her actions, but feel sad for her about the hand she's been dealt in life.
"Monster" may not be the feel-good hit of the year, but it's a harsh and powerful film that elicits strong emotional reactions and has one of the best performances to hit screens in years. In other words, highly recommended.