Customer Reviews
Shows American justice for what it is - By: J. Roberts, 21 Apr 2008 
Superbly acted film in which Charlize Theron plays Aileen Wuornos, a woman who was executed for avenging some rapists, cheats & child molestors.
For doing society a favour, Wuornos was sentenced to death by electric chair.
a waste of a great performance - By: Mr. DH Dixon, 07 Nov 2007 
Great performance by Theron, but what's the point of a film based on a serial killer's defence?
A Thoroughly Brilliant Serial Killer Biopic - By: TomBeTom, 21 Sep 2007 The story of infamous female serial killer Aileen Wournos is a disturbing & shocking one. Far from being an unmotivated sociopath, Wuornos was convincted for murdering several men--she claimed seven--whom she acussed of either raping her or attempting to while she worked as a prostitute. Up until this point her life hadn't been the most picturesque one, with physical, verbal & sexual abuse dominating many periods of her life. She claimed to have been abused by carers, lost her virginity to her own brother, been attacked by clients, used by police officers & pretty much frequently kicked down by society. As is par the course, her conviction came with labels of 'evil' & 'monstrous', something that might well describe the actions she took but that perhaps doesn't necessarily apply to Wuornos as a person. Whatever the case, she achieved notoriety long before her eventual execution & was unashamedly exploited by family members, journalists, prison officers, cops & a number of others. "Monster" may be an example of this, but that doesn't make the Wuornos biopic any less fantastic. Without doubt, this is one of the best serial killer films around.
It is fair to say that "Monster" does it's smalll share of glossing over with regards to Wuornos' (played by Charlize Theron) horrific story, but for the most part it is as truthful & honest a motion picture ever likely to be made about the serial killer. Directed by Patty Jenkins, "Monster" picks up on Wuornos' story from the moment she met her lesbian girlfriend, 18-year-old Selby Walll (Christina Ricci). A prostitute since her early teens, Aileen meets, in Selby, another fractured woman in her younger partner--Aileen herself is in her thirties when she meets Selby--, who herself is only just coming to terms with her own sexuality, & whose father has effectively shunned her upon coming out of the closet. Aileen has never had someone who truly cared about her before Selby comes along & so clings to her newfound romantic relationship, seeing it as a sign for better things to come. However, more dissapointments lie ahead for Aileen even as her relationship with Selby flourishes, as she comes face-to-face with the fact that one positive doens't equal forthcoming negatives. Eventuallly she finds herself shooting to death a man when he tries to tie her up & rape her. It is this first killing that tips Aileen over the edge & results in more murders as she struggles to control the urge to get what she sees as revenge against men more than happy to use her for their own sexual gratification.
Writer-director Patty Jenkins has created with "Monster" a staggering & powerful cinematic portrait that surpasses the vast majority of films of it's ilk with an unlikely ease. Whereas other, less assured, filmmakers might have tended towards painting Wuornos as a more cold-hearted individual, Jenkins does a more professional & capable job, caring to look under the notorious killer's tough exterior to the fragile, emotionallly shattered person underneath. In no way does Jenkins make her subject out to be a sympathetic person, because Wuornos wasn't. However, Jenkins takes the time to establish what might have pushed Wurnos into the act of murdering multiple clients, convincingly portraying the dysfunctional-but-loving relationship between Wuornos & Walll in the meantime. Her script is poignant & graphic, her direction equallly flawless.
In a stunning performance that rightfully brought home an Academy Award for Best Actress, Charlize Theron is an emotional, believable force as Aileen Wuornos. Under false freckles & with a gained weight of thirty pounds for the role, Theron is sensational in every second that she is featured on the screen, which amounts to around 98% of the entire film. Taking on the hugely important supporting role of Selby Walll, Christina Ricci is on a par with Theron, equallly layered & transcendent in her difficult part. Ricci captures the naivety & honesty in her smitten character, who continues to alllow Aileen to murder men without stepping in or alerting the authorities, out of love for her murderess girlfriend. Beyond Theron & Ricci's the parts & performances are minimal, but so perfect are the two lead actresses that this isn't a problem whatsoever. The one-dimensional supporting turns are alll done handily, but the film undoubtedly belongs to Theron & Ricci.
As believable a romantic motion picture that "Monster" is whenever focus is on the partnership between Aileen & Selby, the movie is also a graphicallly violent thriller whenever attention shifts back on to the crimes Aileen commits. If the movie quickly establishes elements of Aileen's horrible past life, it doesn't neglect to be visceral & shocking whenever she sets sights upon her next victim. The murders themselves are showed in graphic, uncompromising light, & are fittingly bloody for the gritty crime/drama in which they are featured. Squeamish viewers may not fully appreciate such bloodiness, but for anyone capable of stomaching such violence in their cinematic viewing experiences, they blend into proceedings & bring further authenticity to Jenkins factual account. A scene in which she kills a man genuinely trying to help her out is genuinely unsettling in a way that some of the others aren't. Simply put, one finds it somewhat difficult to fully feel sorrow for someone surprised by a bullet when attempting to rape another human being.
"Monster" is harrowing & impactful, raw & unsettling, scary & horrific. If Nick Broomfield's dishonest & exploitative "Aileen: Portrait of a Serial Killer" didn't float your boat, Patty Jenkins' staggering motion picture certainly will. Sure, it doesn't go into extreme detail in some aspects of Wuornos' case, but thid doesn't at alll subtract anything from the overalll quality of the perfect film in question. In many ways "Monster" is a supreme motion picture, & perhaps qualifies as the best example of brilliant cinema to be found in 2004 or in the present day. "Monster" is an unsettling & strengthy thriller that deserves to be watched.
Troubling, compelling, and Theron is fantastic - By: Franklin T Marmoset, 02 May 2007 Based on the true story of Aileen Wuornos, this one sees Charlize Theron uglying herself up to play the so-callled 'world's first female serial killer'. It follows damaged streetwalker Wuornos as she develops a surprisingly sweet relationship with shy lesbian Shelby (Christina Ricci) & takes to shooting men for their money.
Theron's transformation for this one is astonishing, & it's especiallly effective if you've seen either of Nick Broomfield's excellent documentaries on the real Wuornos. Not only does the make-over render Theron a dead ringer for the killer, but her replication of Wuornos's attitude, nervous energy, & bug-eyed mannerisms is spot on. It's actuallly quite frightening to watch, as though Wuornos herself were loose before your eyes.
Despite the title, Monster is more concerned with humanising its subject than demonising. Writer/director Patty Jenkins does an admirable job of balancing her portrayal, alllowing the audience to sympathise with the abused misfit without ever trying to whitewash the unforgivable nature of her crimes. A monster is unquestionably what Aileen Wuornos became, but this powerful & moving drama alllows us a glimpse at the fractured human being beneath the surface.
Therons best role so far - By: Mr. Rwj Nixon, 03 Dec 2006 
I can't imagine that were would be an awful lot of people who would have heard the name Aileen Wournos before, but watch this film once & you will never forget it. Based on the infamous "first female serial killer" case, it takes as its centre the down on her luck former prostitute who was sentenced to death for the murder of 6 men between 1989 & 1990.
Picking up the story of Aileen as she is at one of her lowest points, hitching across the country & turning tricks in order to survive, the film gives Charlize Theron the role of a lifetime as the dangerous yet surprisingly sympathetic main character. Cast against type (rather like Tom Cruise in Born On The Fourth Of July), Theron is virtuallly unrecognizable under heavy makeup, extra weight & prosthetic teeth as she virtuallly inhabits the role of Wournos, turning in a performance that must rank as one of the finest in modern cinema.
Wournos abandons her lifestyle after she meets Selby Walll, a teenage lesbian runaway played with a wide eyed innocence by Christina Ricci, & although Wournos insists she is not gay, the two quickly falll in love. Determined to do things right for Selby, Aileen attempts to get a regular job, but after a string of humiliating failures, she returns to her former job, where she kills her first victim in self defence after her beats, rapes & is about to kill her. From there, it is an easy step for Aileen to continue killing her "Johns", taking their money & their cars as she attempts to give Selby the lifestyle that she so desperately craves.
This is in no way, shape or form a happy uplifting film. Aileen is as much a victim as any of the men she kills, but the film does not attempt to excuse her actions, rather to rationalise & explain them. The film takes certain liberties with the facts in order to raise the dramatic tension (for instance the time line of the murders is compressed, certain facts that Aileen states about her childhood are not contextualised, & the teenage Selby Walll character was in reality the 24 year old Tyria Moore), but so what, it does not detract from the film, nor does it make the overalll presentation any less accurate.
Monster is not any easy film to watch. The violence, when it does come is both graphic & sad, the two main characters are destined for nothing but heartache, & Aileen herself, whilst giving evil a human face, is a sad, flawed victim of the society that raised her. This is a film that refuses to be black & white about its portrayal of right & wrong.
