Sundance 2022: Lucy and Desi Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Sundance Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

Lucy and Desi is a documentary whose central story is unconditional love. Both of its titular figures, trailblazers in their own right within the entertainment industry, always relied on one another no matter what the hurdle, hardship, or victory. The result is a lasting legacy that spans decades and whose mentorship has launched numerous careers.

Lucy and Desi’s partnership is one that has aged remarkably as the television landscape has evolved, an aspect the documentary covers at length and with great success through Lucille Ball’s own words accompanied by talking-head interviews from those that were close or taught by them. Some of the best highlights include focusing on just how fearless and committed Lucille Ball had to be in a climate that catered towards men both in front of and behind the camera. Her persistence, bolstered by Desi Arnaz’s ingenuity, led to the formation of one of the largest production companies in the late-1960s, the creation of taping a show with multiple cameras, and the inclusion of a live audience.

While Lucy and Desi shows many of the achievements the duo accomplishes together, its largest flaw is its inability to fully delve into the problems that Ball and Arnaz underwent through their marriage and working relationship. This choice leads to an incomplete picture being formed where the majority of talking points throughout the documentary are almost overwhelmingly positive. To those who are familiar with their story, many issues they battled while together are mentioned but never truly explored in a similar light as that of their pleasantries. And yet, this decision does not debilitate the documentary from succeeding in delivering an entertaining and heartwarming portrait of love.

Lucy and Desi sees Poehler, whose decision to take an informative approach on the more positive impacts of the comedic duo rather than a fully formed narrative resembles more of an homage to a career of influence than that of something revelatory. More importantly, its message of love enduring all things creates a simplistic strength for its audience that can leave all viewers satisfied.

*still courtesy of Sundance

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