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Monster's Ball Customer Reviews (55 - 57 of 85 Reviews)

Halle Berry's shining moment
Independent filmmaking is alive and well and evident in Monster's Ball. This film had a minuscule $4 million budget, a terrific script and a director not afraid to take some risks. Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry practically donated their time they were paid so little. The result is a powerful and disturbing film that walked off with a boatload of awards, not the least of which was a best actress Oscar for Berry.

Director Marc Forster conjures a forceful presentation with stark sets, next to nothing in the way of props and other set decoration, and a non existent soundtrack. Forster does it with innovative use of the camera, sharp editing and most importantly excellent actor direction. Forster could have done better at character development and the ending is nebulous and unsatisfying, but these shortcomings can be partially forgiven for the films many assets.

This is an actors' showcase, with outstanding performances all around. Heath Ledger makes a short but intense appearance as the son that Hank (Billy Bob Thornton) despises. Ledger pumps the character full of repressed anger and disappointment, simultaneously resenting him and seeking his father's approval. Peter Boyle is despicable as Hank's bigoted and self centered father. Billy Bob Thornton delivers his best performance since "Sling Blade" with a complex character torn between his prejudices and his attraction to Leticia (Halle Berry).

Of course the big story here is Halle Berry. Berry shows once again that she is not just another pretty face. I first took serious notice of her after seeing her performance in "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge", a little seen TV movie in which she won both a Golden Globe and an Emmy. After that marvelous dramatic performance, I was surprised that she couldn't land roles any better than "Swordfish" and "X-Men", which tapped nothing more substantial than her looks.

In this film, Berry is sexy and alluring, but these are only incidental attributes. She displays a full range of emotions from vibrant elation and unbridled passion, to utter despondency. She practically rips her heart out and throws it at the camera. She can convey volumes with a single look, or come completely unglued with equal impact. Her Oscar for this performance was richly deserved and had nothing to do with her race as so many have rationalized. She just flat out won it going away. As good as Nicole Kidman was in "Moulin Rouge", it wasn't even close.

This is an excellent film that is worth seeing for the acting alone. I rated it a 9/10. It is a compelling and deeply disturbing drama that serious film lovers will surely enjoy.

HALLE BERRY IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Halle berry gives an amazing performance and deserved her oscar in this drama.Forget what bad things people say about this movie because they don't know good drama's halle has proved again she is a execllent actress.Buy this I promise you that you won't be sorry you bought it go halle WOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!my favorite actress !!! read all the good reviews of this there are more good then bad trust me alot more good!

Operates on many different levels.
"Monster's Ball" is the kind of movie that does one of two things: it either gives one the incentive to scribe thousands of pages in favor of or against its exposition, or it leaves one without a single word to put down. It operates on many different levels, addressing controversial issues that evoke a variety of emotional reactions in its well-drawn characters, and in the audience.

The movie begins, oddly enough, with an execution that will bring the central characters together in a foray of tragedy and loss. We meet corrections officer Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), the son of a retired corrections officer whose racism runs deep within his son's beliefs. Hank's own son, Sonny (Heath Ledger), suffers from his own personal demons as a result of his father's unwillingness to show him an emotional support.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Lawrence's wife, Leticia (Halle Berry), is ready for her emotional grief to come to an end, along with her husband's life. Eleven years of raising their obese son, Tyrell, and working as a waitress to make payments on their home, has burdened her into chain-smoking and drinking, In the last moments of her visit with Lawrence, all she can say is "The only reason I'm here is so you could say goodbye to your son."

And then things change. Hank and Leticia undergo personal tragedies of which I will not speak, but will compliment due to their quiet sense of dread. It is at this point that the story takes a uniquely affecting turn, as these two needy souls find themselves drawn to one another out of a need for support, which soon develops into something much richer.

We, as an audience, know there will be complications arising from their relationship, due in part to Hank's racist father, as well as a secret he keeps hidden from Leticia concerning her husband. There are two solutions to these problems, one that brims with dark comedy, one that closes the film on a note of justly deserved uncertainty, each effectively brilliant in their own way.

At the center of this are two very outstanding performances from Thornton and Berry, who make their characters two of the year's most convincing. Thornton has always been a man of little words (save for his previous work in the disastrous "Bandits"); here, he gets in touch with his "Simple Plan" roots by incorporating Hank with a quiet change of heart. Thornton is able to convey Hank's realization of his faults with just a few simple words, keeping the segue subtle and impacting.

Berry's character, on the other hand, is more outward about her feelings, a trait that is somewhat befuddling to the conserved Hank. In perhaps the most controversial role of her career, she throws everything she has into the role of Leticia, giving us an unblinking performance that brings out the very best of her ability. In Leticia's many emotional displays and overwhelming moments of grief and pain, Berry makes us believe in the inner torments her characters must face, and comes out blazing.

There are two problems I found in the film: one is its unwillingness to expand on the issue of the death penalty, the other its somewhat distanced examination of the interracial relationship between Leticia and Hank. The movie never gives us a reason to feel that there is a threat to their being together, while the execution is little more than a mere plot device used to advance the plot. Even still, "Monster's Ball" benefits from a realistic look at racism, as well as its examination of the changes people undergo in the wake of personal tragedy.

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