Being the Ricardos Movie Review

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“Being the Ricardos” is very aptly named because what director Aaron Sorkin’s latest movie does is take you through a somewhat scandalous week in the lives of this beloved couple, one you wouldn’t have expected to see. It’s not just about Lucy.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were once the toast of the town, the bells of the Ball, you might say. 

Desi enjoyed all that fame offered him, quite a lot, and didn’t care who knew it. Zooming in on this week, it’s Lucille who finally sees it, not that she didn’t already have her suspicions. But she finally gets proof, so now things are different. What to do with this information when it’s also splashed all over the papers?! The headline, ‘Does Desi Really Love Lucy?’ That’s the question that’s eating her alive.

In this hellscape of a week, they also get news that Lucille is getting outed as a Communist. Desi, a genius at getting away with things, comes up with the perfect cover story so, not to worry. He’ll take care of it! She can just say she checked the wrong box on her voter’s registration card, and they’ll be done with it. Desi, the magician, always has a way of making problems go away. That may be true, but can he mesmerize the country into not believing their favorite redhead is a “Red” when the news hits? To him, Lucy admits she knew which box she checked because being a Communist wasn’t much worse than being a Republican. The studio is worried about all they stand to lose with this getting out. Something has to be done.

Nicole Kidman plays Lucy, and Javier Bardem is Desi. Bardem was magnificent as the playboy, giving us his best flashy pomp. Perfectly cast. Did they lineup Kidman for Lucy just because she has the right hair color? No. I say that with authority. They chose her because she, too, would be incredible in this role and she was. I believe she has a golden statue in her sights. Kidman sounded so A LOT like Lucy. In fact, at times, she strangely looked like her, too. That being the case, Nicole still peers through, so it’s an odd combination of the both of them that really works. The rest of the players are all excellent. You see them in various moods around Lucy, Desi, director, producer, and other cast and crew members on the “I Love Lucy” set.

In the film, we’re taken through a typical week of how a show is put together, with the added pressure of all that’s going on in Lucy’s life.

Several times, in typical interview style, Sorkin actually refers to some people who were really there. They were fabulous and had about the same memories of how things had gone array. They also offer a different perspective on Lucy than others can; shed some light on things for the audience. It’s a delight and I’m glad he did this. Since “Being the Ricardos” isn’t an actual biopic, it helps with insights into the lives of comedians. Are they jolly personally? 

Executive producer Jess Oppenheimer is one of them. Tony Hale plays him quite well, getting exasperated at Lucy telling him what she will and will not do on the show.

Conversations come up through the interviews that give Sorkin a reason to throw in flashbacks that explain how we’ve gotten to this point in their lives. These moments are splendidly recreated, allowing us to climb in a time capsule and have a peek into how some of our favorite episodes were created. Was Lucy as funny backstage as she was on the show, or was it all just an act? Were relationships and bonds with fellow castmates truly built? I’m not saying. Watch the movie.

We see when Desi and Lucy first meet. She notices he’s continually flanked by young women. He draws them in, and they follow him around like the remora to the shark. It makes her ill, but she knows she has what it takes to get and keep him. These girls don’t have anything she doesn’t have; all told, they have a hell of a lot less. She asks him to use a line on her that he has yet to be used on anyone else. She’s hooked.

And you see that he loves her.

He watches out for her, but as the years’ pass, it becomes that he’s watching out for the show… and himself.

She goes home after work and notices that he goes to Ciro’s to play poker with his pals or entertain everyone.

The film only gets better after this. Kidman truly is fiery and because of her, what I wouldn’t do now to have seen behind the scenes for real. When Lucy wanted something done, she got it done. She was tough as nails and could move mountains. Desi and Lucy were a great team for a while. Lucy and Desi could convince an audience that the sky was green if they tried hard enough. If they said they’d do it, they did.

But by 1960, she could no longer endure what Desi could never entirely give to her. His heart. She left him the morning after their final show.