Pat M

Although I am a fan of Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem, and I watched reruns of "I Love Lucy" back in the day, I am struggling to get through this movie. Kidman's portrayal of Lucy is more abrasive than comic, and even though it is true that Lucille Ball was a shrewd businesswoman in real life, she could have used more charm in the film. Focusing on one week in the lives of the Ricardos doesn't help much in terms of sustaining my interest. There are flashbacks to earlier events, like how the couple met, but that just makes the film seem more disjointed. I was watching the scene where Desi is arguing for the inclusuon of Lucy's pregnancy in the TV show. At the time, actresses were usually required to hide from viewers the fact they were pregnant. TV producers and censors, and maybe advertisers, thought the sight of a pregnant woman was offensive to the audience. Anyway, I was watching the scene where Desi says that Lucy's pregnacy could be part of the show's "arc." That struck me as so false. I went online and looked at Wikipedia's page and this is what I found: the term "story arc" wasn't even coined until 1988. "I Love Lucy" was filmed during the 1950s. That caused me to turn off the movie. I was watching it on a streaming service. That was the third time I halted the film. I keep trying to watch more of it because I'm determined to finish it before the Oscars telecast. But every time it seems to get a little more absorbing, something comes along to derail it. As Scarlett O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day." So I will try again.