I'm taking it for granted that you've already watched Being the Ricardos.

[Binkie The Clown]

If not, why the hell not? What's wrong with you?
It's a phenomenal movie for anyone who has ever enjoyed I Love Lucy.
Nicole Kidman is awesome as Lucille Ball, and J.K. Simmons is a very convincing William Frawley.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

1. I know a lot of people gave it bad reviews...

but I thought it was very well done. All of the acting was spot on, especially J. K. Simmons portrayal of Bill Frawley! He continues to shine in any role he takes up. I think a lot of people got tripped up by the story line which is centered on a brief period in the lives of Lucy and Desi, but within the time frame being portrayed, it was very accurate.

Recommended!

[Sherman A1]

2. I enjoyed it

What others think is up to them.

[Kaleva]

3. J.K. Simmons has been the voice of Yellow M&M since '96

[Binkie The Clown]

6. I'd been kinda soured on J.K. since the first time I saw him in HBO's OZ.

He played such a convincing Nazi racist skinhead in prison that for a long time I had a hard time separating him from that old role. But he really killed it in Ricardos. He was great. So I don't hold his OZ role against him anymore.

[bif]

7. He grew up in my hometown!

Grosse Pointe, MI. His dad taught at my wife's Middle School.

[Kaleva]

13. That's interesting!

Thanks for sharing! One thing I like about DU, amongst many, are the posts, such as yours, that give a personal touch.

[Silver Gaia]

4. I didn't think Nicole pulled off being Lucy very well

but I liked everything else.

[Binkie The Clown]

5. I thought Nicole was phenomenal as Lucy. She got an Oscar nom for the role.

Of course, that just my opinion.

[Silver Gaia]

9. Of course she did!

I love Nicole, and she is a great actress. However, I think she was miscast, and on top of that, the makeup people let her down, in my opinion. She just did not LOOK enough like the real Lucy to make me believe it, and as good as she was, her acting just could not overcome that. For me.

An example of the makeup department doing their job is the current transformation of Lily James into Pamela Anderson on Hulu. That is phenomenal! She spent 4 hours every day in makeup. They gave her prosthetics (boobs, forehead, false teeth to look like Pam's and give her lips the right shape) and wigs. And as a result, Lily is pulling it off. (So is Sebastian Stan as Tommy Lee. He went through 4 hours of prosthetics and tattoo applications every day.) I was never a fan of either Pam or Tommy, and I didn't pay much attention to their sex tape scandal, but these performances have captivated me! (Seth Rogen is awesome, too, but he didn't need special makeup.) That is a makeup department doing their job!

Anyway, even something as simple as redrawing Nicole's lipline to match Lucy's would have helped for me. This was about recreating an icon. I missed those lips every time I saw her and that reminded me it wasn't really Lucy enough right there to boot me out of my immersion in the story. It had nothing to do with Nicole's acting or whether or not she portrayed the "real" Lucy vs her TV character. It just did not work for me. I simply could not BELIEVE it, and that's an essential ingredient. Not even Meryl Streep could have pulled that off without some help! IMHO.

[Binkie The Clown]

11. ""Thank God they didn't do exact look-alikes," -- Lucie Arnaz.

https://www.insider.com/being-the-ricardos-lucille-ball-lucie-arnaz-nicole-kidman-2021-12

Arnaz also raved about the "Big Little Lies" star's performance as Ball. "Nicole Kidman became my mother's soul," she said. "She crawled into her head...I don't know how you do that."

(Looks are only skin deep, after all.)

[Silver Gaia]

12. Like I said, the lipstick just

threw me off. That small thing might have made the difference for me. It's no big deal if it didn't work for me. Right? I'm glad you liked it. Please accept that I did not. This didn't ruin the whole experience for me, though. I did like it overall. ETA: I'm happy that Lucy herself was happy with it, too! But seriously, who wouldn't be happy to have Nicole Kidman portraying you? LOL That's a high compliment from a great actress.

[Irish_Dem]

8. Maybe she was portraying the real Lucy, not the pretend one on TV.

[Silver Gaia]

10. See my post above. It is intended for you as well.

Thanks!

[seaglass]

14. I've listened to the TCM podcast, The Plot Thickens about Lucy - it was really good and thorough

but it also made me uninterested in watching the movie. The podcast included bonus episodes with JK Simmons, Lucie Arnaz and Alan Sorkin - not sure a movie could compete with this.

[djm5971]

15. We enjoyed it...

..so much we would both watch it again. And I rarely watch anything a second time.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

16. Great Desi appearance on Johnny Carson

[beaglelover]

17. I don't have whatever streaming service it is being shown on.

[Binkie The Clown]

18. Amazon Prime.

I get most of the streaming services; Hulu, HBOMax, Showtime, Netflix, etc., etc., but in all honesty, Amazon Prime is where I find most of what I watch. I probably watch 5 Amazon shows or movies for every one I watch on any of the other services. If I could only have one streaming service, ti would Amazon Prime for sure. The best value of all of them. (IMHO. Your mileage may vary.)