MONSTER
Released: January 9, 2003
A title like "Monster" might lead you to believe this is a horror movie. Certainly, this is a movie about very horrific subject matter. "Monster" is a true story of Aileen Carol Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was executed for killing seven men in the state of Florida during the 1980s. Charlize Theron plays Wuornos, though you can be forgiven for not recognizing Theron. She literally transformed herself, one-upping Renée Zellweger *and* Robert de Niro by gaining weight and radically changing her appearance. If you didn't know it was Theron underneath the added weight or makeup, you'd think it was just some unknown actress. Theron is remarkable as the killing machine Wuornos. What makes "Monster" different from other serial killers and serial killer movies is that Wuornos actually had a heart that desired love and affection, and was willing to share love with others as well. Trapped in a seemingly deadend hell of poverty and zero encouragement from society, Wuornos actually did try to make a life for herself, as shown in the the film as she mistakenly wanders into a lesbian bar and meets up with a young woman played by Christina Ricci. Sensing no viable male companion in her future, Wuornos takes to her female friend with genuine love. But, of course, things go wrong. Is Wuornos a monster? That's for you to decide. In October 2002 the State of Florida finally executed her but director Patty Jenkins shows us that inside Wuornos there *was* a heart. At no point does the film attempt to say Wuornos was justified in her murders though at least we are given some insight into her life which might have been absent from the news reports that painted a picture of a horrific monster, hunting its prey up and down the Florida interstate.
111 Minutes
Newmarket Film Group