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Monster

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Monster (2003)

82%
89%
85%
N/A
N/A
N/A
82 %
Reviews Counted: 176 Fresh: 145  Rotten:31 Average Rating: 7.2/10
 
Consensus: Charlize Theron dominates this stirring, brutal film with a break through performance.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Theatrical Release: Dec 24, 2003 Limited

Box Office: $34,187,787

Synopsis: In a revelatory performance, Charlize Theron stars in the shocking and moving true-life story of Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute executed last year in Florida after being convicted of murdering six men. While Wuornos confessed to the six murders, including a policeman, she claimed to have... In a revelatory performance, Charlize Theron stars in the shocking and moving true-life story of Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute executed last year in Florida after being convicted of murdering six men. While Wuornos confessed to the six murders, including a policeman, she claimed to have killed only in self-defense, resisting violent assaults while working as a prostitute. Bravely burrowing beneath the tabloid headlines about America’s first female serial killer—and the media’s sordid designation of Wuornos as an unrepentant monster—in the midst of the horrors and pathologies, first-time writer-director Patty Jenkins unearths an unlikely love story between two misfits. Nearing suicidal despair, Wuornos wanders into a Florida bar, where she meets Selby Wall (Christina Ricci), a young woman sent by her parents to live with an aunt in order to “cure her homosexuality.” Wuornos—victim of a tragic, abusive upbringing—quickly falls in love, and clings to Selby like a life preserver. Unable to find a legitimate job but desperate to sustain her relationship with Selby, Wuornos continues working as a prostitute. When one of her johns turns violent, Wuornos shoots the man in self-defense; the first in her tragic string of killings. Shot in many of the actual locations where Wuornos committed her crimes between 1989-90, in its grittiness, verisimilitude, and hard-won empathy for its antihero, Monster is reminiscent of the great, iconoclastic American films of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Co-starring Bruce Dern, Monster succeeds as searing social commentary, road movie, and, most profoundly, as love story. Theron’s ferocious, fully-committed work—astounding physical transformation matched by unerring psychological acuity—is sure to surprise audiences familiar with her work, and in writer-director Jenkins, Monster heralds a major new filmmaking talent. -- © Newmarket Films [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern, Scott Wilson, Pruitt Taylor Vince

Director: Patty Jenkins
Screenwriter: Patty Jenkins
Producer: Charlize Theron, Matt Damon, Clark Peterson, Donald Kushner, Brad Wyman
Composer: BT

DVD Info

Release:

Jan 25, 2005

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region (unknown)
  • 2-Disc Set - Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • DTS 5.1 - English
  • (unspecified) - French, Spanish
  • Subtitles - French, Spanish - Optional

Disc 1:

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - 1. Patty Jenkins - Director with Producer(s)

Disc 2:

  • Deleted Scenes
  • Behind the Scenes - 1. Monster "Surrounded"
  • 2. Film Mixing Demo
  • Featurette - 1. "The Vision and the Journey"
  • Trailers - 1. Bonus Previews

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image
5/5

Theron makes Aileen realistically frightening and unreachable at times. Murder in her hands is certainly not cool.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/18/08
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image
3.5/5

As impressive as [Charlize Theron's] transformation is, it's likely to spawn more discussions about acting than about the topic at hand.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/03/08
Robert Davis
Paste Magazine
Ratings Image
N/A

Makes you just want to back away for safety, but also cuts right through your heart for this long wounded creature.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/26/07
Prairie Miller
WBAI Web Radio
Ratings Image
4/4

Charlize Theron's Oscar-winning toure de force!

Full Review | comment Comment
04/22/07
Kam Williams
Princeton Town Topics
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Time Out
Ratings Image
B

A powerful film, and Theron's performance is as spectacular as advertised.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/29/06
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
Ratings Image
4/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
Ratings Image
3.75/4

Theron gives a powerful, chameleon-like performance in this disturbing but very sad film that shows how harsh the world can seem to people living on the fringe of society.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/22/05
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily
Ratings Image
4.5/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Ratings Image
4/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Ratings Image
3/5

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Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
05/13/05
Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
CNN.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
C

With the exception of Charlize Theron's masterful performance as Wuornos, the film is a misguided mess.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/04/05
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
Ratings Image
3/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
03/07/05
Independent
Ratings Image
2/5

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Full Review | comment Comment
03/05/05
Ethan Alter
NYC Film Critic
Ratings Image
B

Monster may be an appropriate memorial to Wuornos, though it can't possibly be as sad and miserable as her poor life must have been.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/27/05
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ratings Image
B+

... sometimes, method acting is its own worst enemy. Theron is very, very good ... but many close-ups seem almost calculated to keep reminding us of just how extraordinarily her appearance has been changed.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/04
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer
Ratings Image
6/10

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
10/07/04
Tony Medley
tonymedley.com
Ratings Image
3/5

Its plodding, sporadically effective script may not entice much, but it finds a haunting eloquence thanks to Theron’s lacerating, career-defining performance.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/30/04
Jay Antani
Los Angeles Alternative
Ratings Image
4.5/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
08/14/04
Film Threat
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Related Forums

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MONSTER - Will this film scare up an an Oscar nomination for Charlize Theron?
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REEL_REVIEWER
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REEL_REVIEWER
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Trailers & Clips

Monster Trailer
Watch Now >>
all

News

Theron Gets Ready to Produce Some "Ice"
posted by Scott Weinberg January 12, 2006
According to Variety, the lovely Ms. Charlize Theron is about to reunite with the producer behind...

"Blair Witch" Director to be "Altered" by Rogue Pictures
posted by Scott Weinberg April 25, 2005

Around the Network

• Monster at Rotten Tomatoes
• Monster at IGN
• Monster at AskMen
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