Weekend Watch: Being The Ricardos And West Side Story
Sitcom legends face turbulence and young lovers sing (and dance) about their strife
Image Credit: Amazon Studios
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Aaron Sorkin charts a tempestuous week in the life of sitcom legends and Steven Spielberg remakes a classic musical. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite
Aaron Sorkin is quickly developing a reputation as a solid, awards-bait director who tackles big topics and combines his established skills as a top-notch writer with a firm grasp of what makes a movie compelling. His latest is a distinct change of pace from last year’s The Trial Of The Chicago Seven, but don’t go thinking that this is some fluffy, throw-away biopic, because Sorkin has found a way in that works.
Being The Ricardos chronicles one drama-filled week in the life and work of husband-and-wife duo Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) – at the time the story starts, they are two of the biggest stars on TV with their sitcom I Love Lucy, which still stands as one of the highpoints of American TV comedy achievement. Around them orbits a variety of show staff members, including stressed-out executive producer Jess Oppenheimer (Tony Hale), fellow writers Madelyn Pugh (Alia Shawkat) and Bob Carroll (Jake Lacy), plus co-stars William Frawley (JK Simmons) and Vivian Vance (Nina Arianda), who play on-screen squabblers Fred and Ethel. It’s a particularly tough time for Lucy and Desi – she’s facing a scandal after newshounds dug up a form that appears to show her indicating allegiance to the Communist party and she’s constantly concerned that her husband is cheating on her. Add to that, she’s pregnant, and both Lucy and Desi are trying to convince sceptical, prudish CBS executives and sponsors to feature that on the show. And not forgetting tensions within the show’s staff and their co-stars over everything from credit for jokes to weight and health issues.
Sorkin also dips into the past to show how our main pair met, their complicated relationship and Lucy’s past struggles with movie studios who loved her when she was a big hit but seemed unable to find something for her to do. The writer/director navigates all this with aplomb, aided by excellent performances across the board: Kidman and Bardem look to channel their characters, instead of copying the real-life couple, while Arianda and particularly Simmons are fantastic as the troubled supporting duo. Hale gives good flop sweat, and Shawkat is superb whether she’s delivering zingers or anguishing over her status.
Not everything is successful: while Kidman is not attempting a Lucy impression, her look can be distractingly odd at times, while some cliches and tropes are lurking within this. The flashbacks don’t always serve to offer depth or colour as much as the director thinks they do, though there are some fantastic examples of both. And a framing device featuring older versions of Oppenheimer, Pugh and Carroll is only fitfully useful, something that could have been trimmed for time.
Yet the issues aren’t enough to snatch the lustre from the film, which manages to fill in a lot about our heroes while keeping them believably human. Credit also to the production team, who recreate the show (albeit briefly) and the era with style. Depending on how you find Sorkin’s writing (I’m a fan), this earns its place as an awards contender.
Being The Ricardos is in UK and US Cinemas. It’ll arrive on Prime Video on 21 December.
Image Credit: 20th Century Studios
Steven Spielberg is a very powerful, very accomplished filmmaker. He could probably get a biopic of an unknown market trader from Dagenham greenlit if he so chose to do one. Why, then, is he choosing to remake one of the most beloved and successful movie musicals of all time, one that scored multiple Oscars and is renowned for its score, songs, dancing, and performances? The answer lies with his love for the original stage cast recording and the 1961 film that adapted it so well. But is that enough to justify staging this one now? The answer is complicated.
The book, stage musical and movie adaptation have long since entered the pop culture lexicon, their riff on Romeo & Juliet referenced, parodied, and rehashed anytime someone needs to show conflict. It’s the story of warring New York gangs the Jets (mostly American-born working-class folk unhappy with how their neighbourhood and the world at large is changing) and Sharks (Puerto Rican immigrants with more drive and ambition than their counterparts). They’re constantly battling for pride and territory (which itself is vanishing in the rising tide of gentrification) and their struggle is intensified when Tony (Ansel Elgort), a stalwart Jet, falls for Maria (Rachel Zegler), sister to Sharks leader Bernado (David Alvarez). There’s singing. There’s dancing. There’s – spoiler alert for both of you who don’t know – tragedy.
Trouble is, at its core are two performances of varying effectiveness. Zegler can certainly handle the singing and does what she can to make Maria feel less like a whiny child and more like an independent woman. Elgort’s Tony, meanwhile, is such a blank, limited character that you rarely feel like rooting for him. They’re both blown off the screen by some adept supporting performances, most notably Rita Moreno (who won an Oscar for the 1961 movie), playing the local drugstore owner who took Tony in after he got out of prison, and Hamilton stage veteran Ariana DeBose, who brings the role of Anita (Bernardo’s partner) to life with such verve and style, it’s hard not to wish she was the focus of the whole movie. Around them, the other Sharks and particularly the Jets get to strut their stuff, and Spielberg is aided by long-time cinematography collaborator Janusz Kaminski, who stages a few shots that are all-time great examples of the craft, particularly one with stretching shadows as the gangs converge for a rumble in a salt storage warehouse.
The good doesn’t always outweigh the lacking, and despite going back to the book and musical while also adding in the gentrification theme and ever-present immigrant tension, this new take struggles to live up to what has come before. West Side Story is certainly technically impressive, and Moreno (naturally) shines. I’m still not convinced, however, that Spielberg and his team have quite justified the movie’s existence.
West Side Story is in US and UK cinemas now.