The filmmakers of the lightweight documentary “Lucy and Desi” profited from an embarrassing wealth. For many years, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz staged a simulacrum of their domestic life in ‘I Love Lucy’ through hundreds of hours of footage. In her chronicle of the duo’s romance and work, director Amy Poehler draws on this treasure lavishly.
These television clips are the most imaginative and transporting elements of the documentary, which, despite the material, offers a limited insight into the central couple. Talking-head interviews with historians and children of the couple’s associates take us through the decades at a ephemeral pace that, along with the distance of elapsed time, gives the story an impersonal feel. Joyful periods take precedence over setbacks, and some difficult subjects, such as Arnaz’s womanizing, are only discussed indirectly.
But the film’s most frustrating choices involve Ball’s registration with the Communist Party, a scandal at the heart of the “Being the Ricardos” biopic. Poehler only touches on the most famous details of the episode before using it as a starting point to describe Arnaz’s escape from Cuba. We learn that Arnaz’s father, a wealthy mayor under Gerardo Machado’s government, was arrested during the revolution. Rather than disprove these policies or explore where Ball’s views differed from Arnaz’s, the film does everything it can to underline Arnaz’s disdain for communism and appreciation for the United States.
Here’s a documentary that invites us to enjoy the unexpected combination of a famously funny lady and a handsome musician – but without analysis or nuance. Better to flip a few reps of “I Love Lucy” instead.
Lucy and Desi
Rated PG. Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes. Look on Amazon.