Monster (2004)

Paused in 3 Areas

When I received this DVD it was damaged in three different areas. I phoned Amazon and received the UP MOST service and was credited back the full amount of the movie. I continue to shop Amazon with full confidence. January 6, 2009

don't expect a documentary

Loosely based on a true story we see the crimes unfold through the eyes of the murderer. Always seeing herself as a victim rather than a cold blooded killer, the movie lends some support for that notion. We are to believe she is nauseous at the thought of casual sex yet does not hesitate to fire fatal shots. She is even depicted as having mercy on one potential victim who was a virgin. The acting is excellent. However, the scenery, costumes and music are mediocre. The film offers no comic relief. To its credit, the movie does not glamorize crime, but starkly portrays the bleak existence of those on the run. The title MONSTER is provocative. She did not torment her victims or even scare them. Male serial killers have done far worse, yet we judge females by a double standard. The sad part is it appears she killed merely to have money to support her addictions to tobacco and alcohol. January 4, 2009

"I'm not a bad person."

Lee (Charlize Theron) was terribly abused as a child and has been a prostitute since the age of 13. Desperate and lonely, she meets a young lesbian named Selby and the two become inseparable. They need money to start a new life together, so Lee does the only work she knows, only now she uses a gun.

This true story of a woman who killed seven men for their money and cars is extremely brutal and depressing. Theron is unrecognizable as the hardened killer and gives a heartbreaking and unforgettable performance. The film doesn't excuse her behavior, it explains it; the result is a movie that is shocking and yet brought tears to my eyes. This is a woman who had no one to help her, no place to go, and she survived day-to-day by taking what she needed. Christina Ricci is also very good playing Lee's naive and dependent girlfriend, Selby.

This frightening portrait of a lost soul has so much ugliness that I had to fast-forward past a few scenes. The acting is top-notch, however, and Theron rightly won the Oscar for Best Actress. A sad and unforgettable movie. December 18, 2008

A true story like no other, Charlize Theron IS Aileen Wuornos in Monster

This is the brutal, yet sad story of Aileen Wuornos, a Florida prostitute who murdered at least 7 men and was ultimately executed in 2002 after spending 12 years on Death Row.

Charlize Theron brings Wuornos to life in this movie and gives an astonishing performance as "Lee" a self-described "hooker" who routinely hitchhikes along the highway looking for "johns".

Her life suddenly changes when she meets Selby, a lesbian whose parents in Ohio has sent South to stay with relatives in the hopes she will go straight. Instead, the two fall in love. Lee, who initially denies she is "gay", becomes so enamored with Selby that she becomes driven: to make more money; to take care of Selby; to get her away from her meddling relatives. That means more nights hooking, more men to please (any way they like), untill Lee kills a john who abuses her physically. She takes his car and money and the spiral downward begins for both women.

Theron is mesmerizing as Lee - giving a performance that burns in the memory and won her an Academy Award. December 17, 2008

sympathetic yet horrifying portrayal of a serial killer

This is a great film. The actors are absolutely first rate: Theron must have gained 30 pounds for the part and is completely unrecognizable and thuggishly ugly; Ricci is a kind of mousy yet complicit accomplice, greedy for experience. The two meet and find an unusal synergy: Theron is a seriously troubled, alcoholic hooker with a horrible past and prone to violent rage, and Ricci is a lesbian trying to escape her prying family. Somehow, they find love in a completely believable way. In addition, the story is rivetting. To maintain their life style and express her rage, Theron goes on a murderous rampage of robbery and murder, after killing a brutal rapist. In a way, she is searching for justice, but gets crazier as she continues and feels increasingly desperate to maintain Ricci's love, which is perhaps the only good thing she has ever known and yet based on the cash that Theron brings in. It is very sad, the viewer empathizes with Theron, and yet feels repelled by the horror and confusion and murder.

Truly masterful. Recommended with enthusiasm. November 10, 2008

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