For nostalgia fans, today’s premiere of the new trailer for “Being the Ricardos” is a two-fer of entertainment excellence.
The biopic traces the dwindling marriage between television legends Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, who created the iconic characters Lucy and Ricky Ricardo on the TV sitcom classic, “I Love Lucy.”
And this film is directed by none other than Aaron Sorkin, a modern master of the TV medium himself ("The West Wing," "Studio 60," "Sports Night"), if in a far more serious vein than what we first think of when Lucy comes to mind.
In the trailer, Nicole Kidman, as Lucille Ball, of course looks like she’s a few miles deep into her character and crafty impression. And who would’ve thought while watching his sinister character in his breakout 2007 film, “No Country for Old Men,” that Javier Bardem could pull off the dancing and singing charmer, Ricky Ricardo.
Well technically he is playing Desi Arnaz, and being an Aaron Sorkin production, we’re bound to see deeper, darker layers in Arnaz than by just watching a few “I Love Lucy” episodes. And that’s what we’re teased with in this trailer.
Like many a recent biopic, Sorkin has decided to focus on one period in the life of these stars -- this time on one critical production week of "I Love Lucy“ -- rather than try to put together a sweeping, whole lifespan epic, which can lead to trivializing the lead subjects, or skipping over important details.
Proclaiming “BASED ON TRUE EVENTS” at the very start of this new trailer is an instant tip-off that this probably isn’t going to be a laugh riot like Lucy’s shows usually were. Every scene is bathed in luscious sepia-toned browns, even the shots on the “I Love Lucy” set, while a languid, stings-heavy take on the show's familiar theme hovers, implying this is going to be a shadowy ride.
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Per Sorkin’s political proclivities, the film also delves into the fact that, while dealing with the end of her legendary show and marriage, Ball has to deal with the invasive Communist witch hunt of the late 1950s.
Maybe that's why when Bardem utters the iconic Ricky Ricardo catchphrase, “Lucyyyy, I’m hoooome,” it sounds more like a warning.
The previous trailer focused more fully on a Lucy monologue about keeping their hit show and marriage together. As GMA says, this latest, slightly longer trailer leans into the communist conspiracy side of the story.
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Sorkin showed in the film "The Social Network" how adept he is at mixing personal romantic entanglements with socio-political zeitgeist. Can’t wait to see how Sorkin melds the two strains together into what looks like classic Oscar bait material.
“Being the Ricardos” arrives in theaters on December 10, and through Prime Video December 21.
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