Being the Ricardos is a 2021 American biographical drama film written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, about the relationship between I Love Lucy stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem star as Ball and Arnaz, while J. K. Simmons, Nina Arianda, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jake Lacy, and Clark Gregg are featured in supporting roles.

After serving in World War II, Arnaz resumes touring with his orchestra, and Ball lands a starring role in 1942's The Big Street.

Walter Winchell's radio program claims to have evidence of Ball's Communist ties, alarming I Love Lucy's crew that their show will be shut down.

Ball admits to registering with the party when she was young and influenced by a relative, and Arnaz frustrates her by announcing that she innocently marked the wrong box.

After Frawley suggests that Arnaz's behavior stems from feeling emasculated by Ball taking over many of the show's business and creative decisions, she asks Oppenheimer, the official showrunner, to help save her marriage.

Arnaz addresses the studio audience about the accusations and takes a live call with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who confirms that Lucy was cleared of all charges.

[7] Filming began on March 29, 2021, in Los Angeles, with Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jake Lacy, and Clark Gregg added to the cast.

[16] Though Amazon does not publicly release box office grosses, the film made an estimated $150,000 from 450 theaters on its first day, and a total of $450,000 in its opening weekend.

The website's critics consensus reads: "Being the Ricardos can't hope to truly capture its subjects' brilliant star power, but Nicole Kidman has a ball with Aaron Sorkin's spitfire dialogue.

[19] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a three and a half out of four stars, and pointed out how, despite unfavorable reactions in response to the casting of Kidman and Bardem in the lead roles, "Bardem does a solid job of capturing Arnaz' charismatic stage presence, business acumen and duplicitous ways with the ladies, while Kidman is outstanding at reminding us there were two Lucys [...] It's not an impersonation so much as it is a fully realized characterization.

"[21] Lindsey Bahr of the Associated Press stated that "while no one is going to mistake either Kidman or Bardem for either of their real-life counterparts, they were hired to be actors, not mimics and do a terrific job bringing to life the spirit of their characters off-camera lives, illustrating a full, complex, adult relationship.

He also reiterated that despite Kidman not physically resembling Ball, "she plays the laser-focused professionalism and self-preservation with stirring conviction, and she nails the dual on- and off-camera personae in her movements, and above all, in vocal distinctions between the raspy heavy smoker in the writers' room and the squawking comic on TV.

"[32] A Cuban-American critic noted wryly that "a Spaniard portraying a Santiaguero was gonna be an uneasy pill to swallow for that most clannish of people known as Cubans.

"[36] Additionally, it was also pointed out that one of the key principal tenets of the film – the point that in 1953 Arnaz had personal issues with Communism[37][38] because his family had been "kicked out of Cuba because of Communism"[39][40][41] – was incorrect,[41][42][33][43][40][44] as the much later Cuban Communist Revolution did not take over the island until 1959[45] and the Arnaz family had migrated to the United States in 1933[42][43] as a result of the "Revolt of the Sergeants",[44][46] not the Castro Revolution.