Monster
Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron) only wanted to be loved. Since she couldn't, she improvised. She was the victim of child abuse. She was shunned at school because of her not-so-pretty looks. She became a prostitute to meet other men, hoping for a connection but it didn't work. Down on her luck and alone, she heads into a bar where she gets friendly with a fellow lonely figure in Selby (Christina Ricci). Estranged from her father and living with a family friend, Selby reaches out to Aileen and they bond, first at the bar and then at a roller skating rink. All that pent-up sexual frustration ends with a passionate kiss and soon enough, Selby runs away with her. During this, Aileen continues her "job" as a prostitute but when one john tries to take advantage of her, she shoots and kills him. After robbing him and taking his car, and after failing to get a legitimate job, she figures this is how she'll support herself. Aileen and Selby move around together but it's only a matter of time until the chasing police catch up.

The book on Theron throughout her career has been that she's the beautiful actress playing average roles in average to great movies, showing off her assets in most of them. In this film however, her transformation isn't just skin deep. She gives a particularly powerful performance (and very realistic too if you watch the documentary also being released) as the serial killer Wuornos. She shows a cold heart with a gun, an emotional openness with Selby, and, in light of things occurring in the movie, a borderline comedic job interview. It's also one of the few times when Theron is bigger than the movie, itself an average adventure which degenerates to killing and running from the law. Ricci's little story doesn't get the full treatment, even with a lot invested so far, and it serves more as a distraction than a viable plotline. The dialogue is filled with one word responses and not so insightful lines. But one look into the eyes of Theron in the film will have you hooked on her performance. 2.5 stars