Monster

Released: 2003
Drama
Starring: Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern
Director: Patty Jenkins
Running Time: 109 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown:  This is the true story of a terrible serial killer named Aileen Wuornos.  She was a lesbian who would have sex with men for money and got into a lot of trouble through poor decisions and desperation.


This is a difficult movie to watch, but Charlize certainly earned her Oscar win for it.
It's the true story of Aileen Wuornos who grew up in Michigan and started life off with a terrible childhood.  She was abused and used drugs early on.  She got pregnant at 13 after she became a prostitute.  Eventually she moved to Florida and started servicing lonely truck drivers for her life long prostitution career.  The movie mainly focuses on her lesbian affair with Christina Ricci and her serial killer days.  She kills a lot of men without having sex with them after they pick her up off the highway.  Over these 9 months you see her fall in love with Ricci's character, and watch her desperation to do whatever it takes to keep her.

It is a very good movie with great acting from Theron and an intensely gritty character study.  Do not watch this one when your kids are awake because of the level of sex and violence in this R rated film.

I give it 4 out of 5 because of the realism and dark nature of the main character.  Very hard to watch, but very well done.