Monster's Ball
by Marc Forster
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Billy Bob Thornton, Gabrielle Witcher, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Taylor SimpsonDirector: Marc Forster
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-06-11
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Lions Gate
Movie Reviews of Monster's Ball
Movie Review: An utterly depressing, but truly unforgettable movie
Summary: 4 Stars
I was given Monster's Ball absolutely ages ago, but as usual, I have a build up of DVDs and never seem to get around to watching some of them. (Here's an idea - stop buying, start watching!) Then of course there was the death of Heath Ledger, and it never seemed like the right time.
Two days after coming home from a beach holiday, I decided that now was the right time to watch it. I was in the mood, I had plenty of time, the phone wasn't going to ring and there would be no interruptions.
Woah. Straight after watching this movie, I had to stay up and watch something to cheer myself up. Monster's Ball is pretty hard going, particularly the first 30-40 minutes and more after that. But the first part of the movie sucker punches you in the gut and leaves you gasping for air. Oh my god what a movie this was, powerful and disturbing. From Heath Ledger's scenes, to Billy Bob Thornton & Halle Berry doing some terrific acting together, to the diabolical acting from P Diddy/Puff Daddy/Daddy/Diddy/Sean Combs/whatshisface, to the little boy, this film is one of a kind.
It has (had?) two great actors in it - Billy Bob and Heath, two particular favourites of mine. I've never been Halle Berry's biggest fan - I thought she was pretty close to awful in Swordfish - but I'll give her something, she did earn the Oscar for this. Everyone says that Heath can only do one facial expression - but whoever told P Diddy he could act should have been shot. This guy actually believes he can act, but I can think of other actors who would have been better in his role. Thankfully, he's not in it much.
Since part of it is set on Death Row, it's going to draw comparisons to Green Mile, but it's so much grittier than that, it simply cannot be compared.
Heath's short but incredibly intense appearance as the son of Hank (Billy Bob) is full of repressed emotion and built up disappointment, at the same time resenting and seeking his emotionless father's approval. Hank is an almost heartless man, who expects his son to do the same as him and his father before him, but doesn't seem to see that he can't do it. Then he executes a man, and falls for his widow, over chocolate ice cream.
Leticia (Halle) sometimes comes across as a not so well thought through character, but you really feel for her, raising a son without a father, who's been on Death Row for 11 years and now out of appeals (was there a reason given as to why he was on Death Row, or did I miss that?), to her alcoholism, to caring for her son. Halle shone in this role, and reminded me a bit of Charlize Theron's portrayal of Aileen Wournos in Monster, she was that good. Her scenes with Billy Bob were electric, and there's an almost too realistic sex scene between them, which afterwards, they almost seem to poke fun at the constant rumours about Billy Bob's size. (Hubba hubba.)
This film will come highly recommended, but with a strict warning - you will think about the events of this movie long after the credits have rolled, and you will definitely need to watch something to cheer yourself up after it. Under no circumstances watch it when there is a crisis in the family, or when your boyfriend has split up with you or something equally dramatic.
Summary of Monster's Ball
The unflinching realism and searing performances of Monster's Ball are stunning in all the connotations of the word. Hank (Billy Bob Thornton) and Leticia (Halle Berry) inhabit stark, queasy realities of the contemporary South, he as a death row corrections officer and she as the soon-to-be widow of an inmate (Sean Combs) whose execution Hank helps conduct. In the aftermath of the execution, both lose their children to tragic deaths and they form an unlikely bond. In the hands of lesser participants, the fateful plot might strain credibility and seem tailored to allow for liberal sermonizing about the obvious wrongs of our legal justice system, but director Marc Forster and cinematographer Roberto Schaefer balance the contentious nature of the film's issues--the death penalty, racism both overt and subtle, interracial couples--with a flawless attention to character and visual detail that completely convinces. The moral ambiguity of both central characters is given full voice as our sympathy is drawn out reluctantly at first but all the more resolutely in the end. Thornton draws from seemingly limitless resources to deliver yet another outstanding performance, but it is Halle Berry who is a revelation as she sustains throughout the complex tenor of brutality witnessed and raw courage defined. --Fionn MeadeDrama DVD Video
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