Nicole Kidman Wows Critic-Heavy Audience as Lucille Ball in New Movie

Nicole Kidman has a lot of doubters over her turn as Lucille Ball in a new movie about the iconic actress — but those folks will be silenced … so say critics, who were blown away.

Aaron Sorkin‘s new flick, “Being the Ricardos,” got its first screening in L.A. this weekend — in front of a crowd of professional movie reviewers, no less — and the consensus seems to be … NK absolutely killed it as Lucy/Lucille … and she may well be on her way to an Oscar.

The first reactions were mostly positive … with folks saying Nicole captured the spirit of Lucille (both as Lucy Ricardo and the real-life Lucille Ball) down to a T — including a spot-on impression of her voice and mannerisms, according to the people who watched it.

There were rave reviews for Javier Bardem as well — who plays Lucy/Lucille’s on-and-off screen hubby Desi Arnaz/Ricky Ricardo — and ditto for J.K. Simmons and others who also star in the movie. Nicole, however, seems to have stood out from the rest … which is interesting.

Frankly … much has been made about Nicole’s casting as the lead, because — well, she doesn’t really look like Lucy or Lucille very much at all … even when she’s in costume and makeup.

A lot of “I Love Lucy” fans were incensed by the decision to tap NK — saying she doesn’t even slightly resemble Lucille … meanwhile, Debra Messing (who’s considered a dead ringer for LB) is there, presumably available to take on the role many feel she was born to play.

Sorkin shut all that down in a recent interview … defending his choice of Nicole, saying the best performances of real people don’t always have to be about matching their look.