And so this gifted actress plays out a true-life tragedy (for almost everyone involved), and though we can feel sorry for her (perhaps surprisingly, it’s not the murders, or the moments with Selby, but the scenes where Wuornos tries to find legitimate work, that I found especially heartbreaking), we still feel this removal, this isolation, from Aileen.

The true meaning of Aileen's actions, the true feeling of pulling a trigger and killing what she thought of as not-so-innocent men, hasn’t survived in Jenkins’ film. This could be construed as a bad thing, because for some people, myself included, it means you don’t feel as much as you might for the characters. Monster is moving, yet it never made me cry. But I can’t say this is a fault. In fact, this alienation we feel from Aileen, even though she’s meant to be the subject of a mostly sympathetic portrait, only further underscores what may be the film’s deepest sorrow, and most disturbing tragedy: a life devoid of love, of hope, of mercy.

Though Monster is a powerful film, its DVD has some pretty crap extras. There’s a featurette which is admittedly quite interesting, and gives a nice amount of behind-the-scenes images (including Theron coming down from the taut emotional state she had to constantly be in to play the part). But the rest of what’s included is...well, kind of puzzling, actually. The score of the movie is beautiful and unique, but to devote multiple bonus features to it, instead of to more pertinent things like the real Aileen, or the makeup process, or something like that, sort of seems unnecessary. And one of the “extras” about the score just turns out to be an ad for the movie’s soundtrack. The explanation for the absence of footage and info on the real Aileen, the facts of the story, etc., is easy to find when you realize the documentary Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer, which features recordings made at Wuornos’ request shortly before her execution, is also now out on DVD.

But don’t let the slim pickings on the “Special Features” menu stop you. Monster is a sad, thought-provoking film, and Theron and Ricci do an astonishing job bringing their characters to angry life.

Movie Grade: B+
DVD Grade: C+
Overall Grade: B

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