BEING THE RICARDOS – Having read several books and seen as many documentaries about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, I already knew their personal story. What was a complete surprise was Lucy’s curt interactions with everyone, even those closest to her. I’d always heard she was one tough broad, but I was taken aback at her behavior and wondered if it was an accurate depiction. Since her two children, Lucie & Desi Jr., are the exec-producers on this project I suppose it is. Nicole Kidman captures Lucy’s cadence well, but I still didn’t really see Lucy, at least not consistently. I didn’t believe Javier Bardem as Desi at all. Perhaps he was just miscast. His performance felt like he was always trying to be Desi, but never really becoming Desi. On the positive side, Nina Arianda and JK Simmons as Vivian Vance and William Frawley respectively were excellent. I saw the real folks in their portrayals. And I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes peek at the writers’ room of I Love Lucy in the 1950s. The film itself feels like some lesser-known facts of who these icons were individually, and to each other, were jammed into the story at random points which gave it a disjointed feel. Many of these scenes could have been eliminated. Perhaps Lucie and Desi Jr. felt it was important for us to know these things about their parents, but it wasn’t important to the script which depicts only one week in time – the week news broke of Lucy’s alleged ties to the Communist party. To that end, the final big scene of Desi telling the studio audience Lucy has been accused of being a Communist is riveting. Too bad the same can’t be said for the entire picture, although die-hard Lucy fans may enjoy it. Toasts, boyfriends/girlfriends – zero.