Being the Ricardos (2021) review

Sorkin covers one particularly worrisome week in the lives of sitcom stars Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) as they have to work on the next episode of their hit show I Love Lucy while dealing with (a.) rumors that Lucy had a connection to the Communist Party (b.) Lucy's suspicion that Desi's been unfaithful and (c.) Desi wanting to write Lucy's pregnancy into the show (which tobacco giant Philip Morris objects to) ... among other concerns.  This is clearly territory the writer-director knows all too well and while it does come across as an extended television episode itself, it does try to give a sense of how the industry worked at the time (although Sorkin tries imparting modern thinking on it - I doubt anyone from that era ever used the word "gaslighting").  The supporting cast is excellent - particularly J.K. Simmons as William Frawley and Nina Arianda as Vivian Vance - although the recreations of some of the famous Lucy skits are hindered somewhat by Kidman (she's a good actress but comedy is not her forte).  To those ding-a-lings in the media whining about Bardem (who's from Spain) playing a Cuban ... be better.