Charlize Theron IS the Monster!

Rating: 8/10 (20 June 2005)

Honestly, I've never had too high of an opinion of Charlize Theron.. Flat in The Astronaut's Wife and Cider House Rules (which is a great movie nevertheless), I was apprehensive to see this, even though I saw this just recently, nearly a year and a half after she won the Academy Award for it. Playing with the "The more makeup the better" approach to getting her award, Theron nevertheless plays Aileen Wounds, a prostitute-turned-killer who was profiled in the great Nick Bantock doc, "Aileen Wournos, The Selling Of A Serial Killer". Theron plays her to a T here, getting the mannerisms quite awesomely, to the point where it's almost scary. Her special "friend", Selby, played brilliantly here by Christina Ricci, is broken whether to stand by her, or run, when the money starts getting low. This is a consequential decision, something that makes her as guilty as Wournos in my opinion. Both of them play off of each other so well, and it's a shame that Christina Ricci (who I've always liked) didn't get a nom as well.