Accurate, unwilling to compromise, and still has time to be funny, Amy Poehler’s documentary will take audiences on an emotional rollercoaster.
Amazon went all-in on Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz with Aaron Sorkin’s Oscar nominated Being The Ricardos. Albeit star-studded, it was not the best film about the comedy duo this year, nor was it the best film Amazon put out about them. That superlative belongs to the revelatory Lucy and Desi, director Amy Poehler’s documentary debut. Accurate, unwilling to compromise, and still has time to be funny, Poehler’s documentary will leave viewers asking why she didn’t play Ball in Being The Ricardos. The filmmaking of Lucy and Desi will not blow anyone away, but the heart will take audiences on an emotional rollercoaster fans of the couple won’t soon forget.
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Lucy and Desi chronicles the rise of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, the stars of the hit sitcom I Love Lucy, as they navigate Hollywood stardom. Ball was not hellbent on being a child star; she came to modeling through just wanting to make money to support her family. After she starred in a slew of B-movies and paid her dues as an up-and-coming actress, she was finally in a place where casting calls read “Lucile Ball type.” Her career was off and running, but no one was utilizing her comedy. That is, until she paired with Cuban musician and TV personality Desi Arnaz. The rest is history… except that history tends to end with I Love Lucy. In reality, the pair go on to not only revolutionize sitcoms, but form the world’s largest independent movie studio at the time.
“I never learned moderation.” Arnaz’s work ethic played a huge part in the success of I Love Lucy. There is no true beginning and end to the story of these titans of Hollywood because their impact is still felt to this day. The film truly gives Arnaz the credit he deserves for being a genius television producer. It was he who suggested they play old episodes as a way to buy time while they expected and had their second child, which led to reruns as we know them today. Ball would be in the public eye much longer and, sadly, Arnaz’s work would go on to consume him. “I had only two choices,” said Arnaz, “Either quit or get bigger. That is the way business is in the United States. You cannot be half-assed successful.”
Lucy and Desi is in top form when dissecting the communist feel of the nation during the 1950s. Arnaz was not born to humble roots. Along with generational wealth from the Bacardi rum company, his father was a renowned politician who was imprisoning communists until they imprisoned him. “Desi wasn’t an immigrant. He was a refugee.” Hearing Arnaz thank America publicly is a complex scene to watch because he didn’t leave his home — he was exiled. While America was in desperate need of a Cuban-American who was not a stereotype, the sophistication and talent he brought to the screen feels toxic when the cameras go dark. In total opposition, Ball registered as a communist to make her grandfather happy when she first started to vote. More than a decade later, that voting card with “Communist” in bold red would force them both to use every favor at their disposal to change public perception, including a call from the sitting president.
Their daughter Lucie Arnaz put it best, “She didn’t care about being the first woman anything.” The final scenes of the documentary show Ball as a recurring guest on The Carol Burnett Show and getting a Lifetime Achievement Award to a standing ovation. At that moment, it’s clear only she could have helped women performers — particularly comedians — get to where they are today and her blind ambition as a youth was the engine that put her in a place to change Hollywood for the better. Ball and Arnaz’s voice-overs in Lucy and Desi are voice-overs work perfectly as the audience feel like they are the voices of God. Interviews with their children can be hard to watch, but the joy in Carol Burnett’s face reminds us all why we love Lucy.
Poehler’s secret weapon is her ability to get inside the minds of her subjects. Their voices make for stirring narration, but footage of them when the director calls cut — and the façade that falls — drive home the message that, sadly, viewers got the best parts of their relationship. Poehler is by no means trying to paint a sad divorce story in Lucy and Desi. Rather, it’s the way she describes Ball’s rise to fame and Arnaz’s willingness to help her succeed that makes the ending of the documentary so beautiful to experience. The average celebrity divorce would be blessed to end as theirs did — working together, happily married to other people, still friends, and still in awe of one another. Ultimately, Poehler weaves a distinct and energetic portrait of Hollywood’s original renaissance woman in Lucy and Desi.