Review: "Being the Ricardos"

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were undoubtedly two of the most popular people in television. Married for more than 20 years, they collaborated together on beloved CBS sit-com I Love Lucy (1951-1957), in which their relationship as husband and wife was always portrayed as happy and loving. Off-screen, however, their relationship was tumultuous. While their relationship has been the subject of two TV movies, it was recently given a theatrical and streaming release: Amazon’s Being the Ricardos, starring Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as Ball and Arnaz. Here’s my review of that film:

During a hectic production week in the third season of “I Love Lucy,” Lucille Ball is wrongly accused of being a communist while Desi Arnaz is accused of not being faithful to Lucy. The future of their show, as well as their relationship and careers, and even their friendships with co-stars Vivian Vance and William Frawley (respectively played by Tony-Winner Nina Arianda and Oscar-Winner J.K. Simmons) is on the line. Overcoming the backlash they received is the major story line, paired with the stories of how they met, fell in love, got married, and worked together to get their show off the ground at CBS. The film also includes the reflections upon that pressure-packed week years later by “I Love Lucy,” screenwriters Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh-Davis, and Bob Carroll.

Written and Directed by Academy-Award-Winning Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (Winner of Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network (2010)), “Being the Ricardos,” tells the story of Lucille Ball’s and Desi Arnaz’s remarkable partnership. During their marriage, they were deeply in love and they never stopped relying on each other’s creative instincts. They ran their show together on their own terms and if the network had a problem on how they were running it, they worked together to remedy it. And although their marriage sadly ended in divorce, they never truly fell out of love with each other.

Although one could argue that Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem don’t look exactly like Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in real life, their skills at bringing realism to every role they play show up well in this movie. Kidman won the Best Actress Oscar for The Hours in 2002 and Bardem won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for No Country for Old Men in 2007, though I would say their performances in this movie are award worthy as well. Nina Arianda and J.K. Simmons are exceptional as Vivian Vance and William Frawley, and the supporting cast includes the talents of Arrested Development Alum Alia Shawkat, Jake Lacy, and Emmy-Winner Tony Hale, respectively as the younger versions “I Love Lucy,” writers Madelyn Pugh-Davis, Bob Carroll, and Jess Oppenheimer (with Linda Lavin, Ronny Cox, and John Rubenstein as their older counterparts). Marvel Cinematic Universe alum Clark Gregg co-stars as fictional network executive Howard Wenke.

“Being the Ricardos,” Cinematography was done by Jeff Cronenweth, who received a Best Cinematography Oscar Nomination for “Social Network,” and it was Edited by Alan Baumgarten who received a Best Editing Oscar Nomination for The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) which was written and directed by Sorkin as well. The music was composed by Daniel Pemberton, who received a Best Original Song Oscar Nomination for the song “Hear My Voice,” written for “Trial of Chicago 7.” Ball and Arnaz’s children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr., also served as Executive Producers of the film.

All in all, “Being the Ricardos,” is a very well-made film. Personally, I got so lost in the film that I forgot I was watching people act. I honestly felt like I was watching the real people who were there tell their own version of the story, which hasn’t happened very often in my life. I would recommend that all “I Love Lucy,” fans see this movie, even if you have reservations about being exposed to the more complicated, not-so-funny truth about the show. Although the truth about “Lucy,” is complicated, everyone who made “I Love Lucy,” in reality were relentless in their efforts and the film makes you love them all even more, especially Lucy herself.