The life of Lucille Ball, focusing on her loving yet tumultuous relationship with Desi Arnaz.The life of Lucille Ball, focusing on her loving yet tumultuous relationship with Desi Arnaz.The life of Lucille Ball, focusing on her loving yet tumultuous relationship with Desi Arnaz.
Christopher Brougham
- Adult Freddy
- (as Chris Brougham)
Andrew Robertt
- Bob Carroll Jr.
- (as Andrew Mitchell)
Lauchlin MacDonald
- Jess Oppenheimer
- (as Lachlan Macdonald)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
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Featured reviews
Moving
I have no idea how historically accurate the story is. But to my own surprise, I found myself crying through most of this movie. Gradually--very gradually--the (I must say amazing) actress Rachel York uncannily takes on the appearance and personae of the Lucille Ball we all knew from the wildly popular sitcom people my age grew up with many years ago. Though we read stories of the tensions between Ball and her husband/TV co-star, Desi Arnez, none of it seemed very real. This drama drives it home. It is a true tragi-comedy. Neither of these two enormously talented personalities come across as villains.It is, in the end, simply a tragic clash of cultures.
All performers in this production are top notch.
All performers in this production are top notch.
A fairly good treatment
I saw "Lucy" last night and found it to be a pretty good general overview of the star's rise. It seemed to dwell a bit too much on her relationship with Desi(which never really changed) instead of the other things going on in her life as she became more and more famous.
The acting was very good. I remember Rachel York from Les Mis back in 1991. She has a great deal of talent. Danny Pino, I don't remember seeing in anything before.
All in all - worth seeing.
The acting was very good. I remember Rachel York from Les Mis back in 1991. She has a great deal of talent. Danny Pino, I don't remember seeing in anything before.
All in all - worth seeing.
That grape-stomping scene still rules!
This is clearly a made-for-television movie. The plot line follows the rhythm that allows for commercial advertising breaks. Nonetheless, the form suits the content: how the real-life coupling of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz led to the birth of a new comedic genre - the sitcom.
Ball's goofy and good-natured ability to recount funny stories foreshadowed the eventual development of her unique physical humour. Rachel York uses her considerable talents effectively in her inspired performance as this very contemporary clown. Did Lucille Ball really receive coaching from Buster Keaton and Red Skelton or is this merely a fictional embellishment, creating a bridge between her mostly unknown film roles and her emergence as a television star?
"Lucy" wisely does not recreate many scenes from the original "I Love Lucy" shows, with the stunning exception of the grape-stomping scene. Though the intervening years have provided TV and movie audiences with new comedians, the verve and the brilliance of Lucille Ball, as played in that particular scene, is well worth revisiting.
Ball's goofy and good-natured ability to recount funny stories foreshadowed the eventual development of her unique physical humour. Rachel York uses her considerable talents effectively in her inspired performance as this very contemporary clown. Did Lucille Ball really receive coaching from Buster Keaton and Red Skelton or is this merely a fictional embellishment, creating a bridge between her mostly unknown film roles and her emergence as a television star?
"Lucy" wisely does not recreate many scenes from the original "I Love Lucy" shows, with the stunning exception of the grape-stomping scene. Though the intervening years have provided TV and movie audiences with new comedians, the verve and the brilliance of Lucille Ball, as played in that particular scene, is well worth revisiting.
Entertaining
I've read a lot of negative reviews of this film and I can only say that yes, there are some errors in the chronology and anachronisms regarding the cars used. If you can get beyond all that, the film will entertain you. The acting and the portrayals are quite good of Lucy and Desi, and acceptable for Viv and Bill Frawley. There are some not-bad impersonations of some legends like Eddie Cantor and young Bette Davis. A standout is the young woman portraying Carole Lombard, and the 20s period stuff looks good. I wish they would have gone more into Desi's background as his early life was filled with at least as much drama as Lucy's. The woman who plays DeDe Ball really looks exactly like the real thing. The re-creations of Lucy's best routines are pretty good. It must be hard to near-impossible to try an imitate a comic genius credibly, but Rachel York does a very good job. I've read nearly everything ever written about Lucy and Desi, and while this film is not perfect, it is generally pretty accurate.
Didn't work for me
This film failed before we evan saw who directed it. Even the casting chosen for this movie didn't do well. It's a shame that this movie is nothing more then Lucy's marriage problems with just a touch of her show. If you want to see the true Lucy go to A&E and see it there. You will get a better idea of this great lady.
Did you know
- GoofsThe final episode of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour", in which Lucy meets Ernie Kovacs, marked the final go-around for the Ricardos and the Mertzes. By this point, these shows were not filmed before live audiences. The crew had abandoned live audiences long before the final installment.
- Quotes
Desi Arnaz: I work hard, I play hard, I drink hard, and I love hard.
- ConnectionsReferences Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Люси
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 2h 8m(128 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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