Loving ‘the Ricardos’

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Lucille Ball is among the most recognizable female comedians from the last century, even though her most enduring memories are from a show that ended in 1957, “I Love Lucy.”

Aaron Sorkin folds the first half of her professional life into a single week in his brilliant new film, Being the Ricardos. The writer-director (The Trial of the Chicago 7) transcends the dull, by rote formula of the average Hollywood biographical picture through a strategic arrangement of episodes powered by a compelling narrative. In his staging of key events, the week in 1953 when Lucy was accused of being a Communist is also the week when she confronts husband Desi Arnaz for his infidelity as well as the week when the couple insist on incorporating her real-life pregnancy into the show.

Regardless of whether it really timed out so neatly, Being the Ricardos is emotionally true in its depiction of the problems faced by America’s most popular sitcom couple.

A few facts should be stated. “I Love Lucy” reached 60 million viewers each week, dwarfing the audience for even the biggest hits in today’s fractured media. As the only Latino lead actor in an American television show, Desi broke boundaries in the ‘50s. The comedy of “I Love Lucy” concealed subversive implications as Lucy plotted around the obstacle of male dominance. Pregnancy was unmentionable on TV in those years. And finally, in the ‘50s, accusations of Communism were as potent as charges of sexual misconduct nowadays. Many careers were ended.

Sorkin dramatizes all those elements entertainingly and economically. The excellent cast sends his concepts soaring over the goalpost. Nicole Kidman is surprisingly believable as Lucy, pretty much nailing the comedian’s slapstick body language and exasperated faces, insulating her emotional vulnerability with a layer of cynicism. Even if, as one of her writers says, her show is not Uncle Vanya, she’s determined to make “I Love Lucy” believable and valid. As Desi, Javier Bardem is a commanding presence. He’s not just a costar but a dynamic band leader, sensitive balladeer, shrewd businessman and savvy producer whose sophisticated use of cameras made “I Love Lucy” pathfinding. The supporting cast is dominated by J.K. Simmons and Nina Arianda as William Fawley (aka Fred Mertz) and Vivian Vance (aka his wife Ethel). In Being the Ricardos, they provide comic relief as dueling curmudgeons off stage and on.

Sorkin cuts to black and white to recreate snippets of “I Love Lucy” episodes and back to color for years-later, make-believe interviews with the show’s writers and producers. Being the Ricardos catches the era’s pop culture vibe and the pressure of writing a show on Monday and airing it live on Friday. Mostly it’s about the tension of a married couple in a mutually supportive business partnership. They were in love but unable in the end to stay together.

Being the Ricardos is screening at the Avalon Atmospheric Theater, Downer Theater, Marcus South Shore Cinema, Marcus Ridge Cinema, Marcus Majestic Cinema and Marcus Menomonee Falls Cinema