Life doesn’t imitate art in the official trailer for Amazon Studios’ “Being the Ricardos.”
Rather than exuding the lighthearted grape-stomping and eating-candy-off-a-conveyor-belt vibe that made Lucille Ball a star, the spot for Aaron Sorkin’s feature about the beloved comedian strikes a much darker tone — beginning with a slowed down and dramatic version of the “I Love Lucy” theme song that plays in the preview.
The trailer focuses on the marital problems between Ball (played by Nicole Kidman) and her then-husband Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) as they spend a week filming an episode of their beloved 1950s sitcom, in which they played TV couple Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The clip also alludes to Ball’s investigation by the FBI in 1953 — which happened during the height of Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s communist witch hunt. Ball admitted to the House Un-American Activities Committee to having previously registered as a member of the Communist Party in 1936 to appease her then-ailing grandfather — but said she was never an active member of the party, per the Washington Post.
It’s hard to tell if one will actually see Ball in this role — and not just Kidman playing Ball — but the “Nine Perfect Strangers” star does seem to nail the comedian’s accent.
“Being the Ricardos” is getting an award-contending release. It will hit theaters on Dec. 10 and then be released on Prime Video on Dec. 21.