This movie gave me the odd sensation of watching actors portray people that I really knew in real life. For about 15 years, my writing partner and I got to be friends with famed "I Love Lucy" writers Madelyn Pugh Davis and Bob Carroll Jr.. We got to share many lunches with those two wonderful people. So engaging. So accommodating. So generous.
So unlike the characters depicted in this disaster written and directed by the bloated ego that is Aaron Sorkin. Frankly, I've never been a big fan of his stuff. At this juncture, he's lost me for life. The Madelyn and Bob crafted by Sorkin are nowhere near what they were really like. Madelyn is shown to be bit of a shrill who belittled her partner at every turn. As a result, Bob came off as a complete buffoon. Meanwhile, Bob sported a famous goatee for most of his life. Did the on-screen Bob have that very distinctive feature? That apparently was too much for Aaron to absorb.
Indeed, this film went downhill for me in the first five minutes. Setting up a documentary-like motif, Sorkin used an older version of the Lucy writers to tell his "factual" story. Madelyn was portrayed by Linda Lavin, a true oddity as Linda had played the title role in "Alice" which was executive produced by Madelyn and Bob for eight seasons. Well, Linda/Madelyn has one line at the beginning that immediately set my blood boiling.
"When Lucy and Desi weren't tearing their heads off, they were tearing their clothes off."
Audible scream. Madelyn would never had said anything like this!!
The downhill slide for me continued.
Most of this movie was set in one production week. And, so he could cram everything in, that week featured virtually the entire history of the production. The rumors that Lucille Ball was a Communist. The news that she was pregnant and they would write the baby into the plot. Desi's nightly philandering. All of the above happens in the same week and that is ridiculous.
Meanwhile, we watch the first table read for that week and the nastiness coming out of all the characters' mouths envelops the dialogue. Yes, Vivian Vance and William Frawley as the Mertzes did not get along. But they were civil to each other at all times as opposed to the screaming match we see from Sorkin. From what Bob and Madelyn told us, Frawley was the consummate pro who only read the scenes his character was in and then went home.
Indeed, if the vitriole we see behind the scenes at "I Love Lucy" via Sorkin was true, the series would never have become the TV icon that has lasted for four to five generations now. But that doesn't fit the Sorkin template where everybody back in the 50s talks as if it was already 2022. In 1952, there was no such expressions as "showrunner" and "firewall." And nobody used the phrase "can you give us the room."
The factual stretches and errors I found in this film could fill up a separate blog. For instance, the concluding scene where Lucy is cleared from Communist ties was all wrong. Yes, it happened while Desi was warming up the audience for a filming. But there was no direct call from J. Edgar Hoover. All Desi said, according to our direct sources, was that Lucy was no Red. The only thing red was her hair and even that wasn't legit.
But Sorkin doesn't give a shit. He has an agenda for his story and throws everybody under the bus to arrive at his destination. Lucy comes off as a shrill bitch. And, as played by Nicole Kidman, the actress' famed facial expressions are impossible due to Kidman's copious Botox injections. And Desi Arnaz was virtually unrecognizable. Bob and Madelyn told us on countless meetings how much they adored this man. He was good looking and charming. In this mess, Javier Bardem as Desi is hardly either.
Again, Sorkin could care less. But he is not the only villain in this piece.
Back to the title of today's entry...
Lucie Arnaz and her brother sit on top of Desilu LLC and own the rights to everything about their parents. Now I used to have a lot of respect for her, but no more. Because in her attempts to maintain any remaining morsel of relevance, she is allowing hacks like Aaron Sorkin to pick the last pieces of meat off the bones of her parents' legacy. We don't need to see dirty laundry. Let us continue to revel in the good things Lucy and Desi gave us.
Lucie clearly has some psychological issues. And, clearly, she has lost sight of what her mom and dad found important. They adored their writers. Lucie should never had let them be portrayed as they were in this pile of junk. But she had already done a disservice to Bob and Madelyn several years ago when the bozos at "Will and Grace" did their homage to Lucy. Lucie allowed whole clumps of dialogue to be re-enacted by Debra Messing and company. Was there any on-screen credit given to the original writers?
You answer the question.
At the end of the day, that "Will and Grace" episode was unnecessary and so is "Becoming the Ricardos." Leave them be and let us enjoy them as they should be.
Bob and Madelyn, we've got your back.
LEN'S RATING: Zero stars.
Dinner last night: Leftover Chinese food.
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