Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Tuesday, April 7
The Indiana Daily Student

One 'Monster' of a movie hits DVD

"Monster" is the story of Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron), a prostitute serial killer just trying to survive. As a last-ditch attempt at human decency, she falls in love with a lesbian, Selby Wall (Christina Ricci). Aileen then decides to give up prostitution shortly after beginning to date Selby. The two are falling on hard times not having any money. After experiencing a brutal rape, Aileen finds that she can make money by murdering and stealing cash from her victims. \nThis film does an excellent job of showing the humanization of Aileen and what drove her to commit such vile crimes. It uses voiceovers by Theron to fill in the gaps of Aileen's childhood. Director and screenwriter Patty Jenkins does an unbelievable job of presenting a love story with a tragic twist of fate. \nThe special features include interviews with Theron and Jenkins, in which Jenkins describes how they actually went to the places where Aileen was located and talked to the people that she talked to. In addition, some of the people that Aileen actually knew were even used as extras in the movie. Unfortunately, interviews with the people that knew Aileen were not so lengthy. The special features also spend a good deal of time talking about the sound acquisition and the score. This is good because sound plays a pivotal role in the movie. \nCharlize Theron's acting is astonishing and every bit deserving of the Academy Award she received for the film. As Jenkins' first feature-length film, this is definitely a great start for her. The DVD's special features complement the movie well, making this a great package worth checking out.

Get stories like this in your inbox
Subscribe