Monster (2003)
Biography | Crime | Drama | Romance

Based On A True Story

Charlize Theron (The Italian Job, Trapped) explodes in a magnetic, Oscar-winning performance as convicted killer Aileen Wuornos.

Severely abused and unloved, Aileen immersed herself in the dangerous world of highway prostitution...until she met Selby Wall (Christina Ricci Sleepy Hollow), a naive girl who was violence, and nobody imagined the nightmare that awaited the seven men standing in the way of her happiness. A critically acclaimed film from writer/director director Patty Jenkins.

User Comment: Michael O'Keefe Muskogee OK • Love and life can be cruel and down right hellish. This is a stark bio of Aileen Wuornos(Charlize Theron)who grew up in Michigan and was forced to deal with abuse, drugs and after becoming a prostitute having a child by the age 13. Wuornos would eventually move to Florida and take her anger out on men she "serviced" along the highway. She would enter into a lesbian relationship with a shy younger woman Selby(Christina Ricci)more than likely looking for acceptance. During a nine month period in 1989 and 1990 Wuornos would murder seven of her "Johns" to avenge being raped and beaten.

Theron is excellent and her hard work has earned her an Oscar nomination. Ricci is believable as the young lover. Bruce Dern plays the part of an old man who befriends the highway prostitute. Vivid foul language, sexual content and brutal violence makes this a strong R. The lesbian love making is urgent and eye popping. Believe it or not the title MONSTER is not in reference to Wuornos.

Summary: Love is where you find it.

Editor's Note: What Charlize Theron achieves in Patty Jenkins' Monster isn't a performance but an embodiment. With courage, art and charity, she empathizes with Aileen Wuornos, a damaged woman who committed seven murders. She does not excuse the murders. She simply asks that we witness the woman's final desperate attempt to be a better person than her fate intended. -- Roger Ebert - Chicago Sun-Times

--- JOYA - No SDH ---

º º