Monster's Ball
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Movie Reviews of Monster's Ball
Movie Review: Poetic and Beautiful!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Monster's Ball" is a great film with an uplifting message for anyone who has the intelligence to pay attention to it.On the other hand, whoever would rent this movie and expect it to be the sort of family fare to watch while munching popcorn on the couch with Mom and the kids must have rocks in his head.
While I am sympathetic that someone might be offended by some of the nudity and/or situations presented in "Monster's Ball", I can't help but wonder why someone with that sort of dispostion would ever rent this movie in the first place.
My suggestion: Try reading the liner notes on the dvd cover, instead of just the title. That way, your chances of ending up with something you find offensive will be a lot less. Believe me, I've been to the video rental store lots of times and this technique really works.
We need more films with adult-oriented themes and less teenage-oriented garbage. Our culture is awash with corporations that generate mindless garbage and pander to a dopey public in order to make a fast buck. I'm sick of seeing films like "Ernest goes to Jail III" and "Bruce Willis vs. Godzilla" get promoted to death.
Halle Berry's delivery was awsome, and the story was fresh. The characters weren't tremendously likeable, but they behaved in understandable terms. In other words, the decisions the characters made, and the consequences of their actions, set in motion a series of events that made the story convincing.
The only problem I had with the film was that someone as glamorous-looking as Halle Berry probably wouldn't be living such a bummy existence, not even in the deep South. But, that's poetic license. The casting of Halle Berry made the part more believeable. The expression on her face at the film's end contributed to an ending that was powerful, poetic, and hopeful. I thought the ending to the story was both appropriate and beautiful.
It's refreshing to see something that's creative for a change. I don't always agree with the Academy of American Cinema, but I can't say enough about how great I think this film is.
Movie Review: Great Drama, with lots to think of!!
Summary: 5 Stars
OK, the movie is great! I am writing this only to argue against the reviews some customers have had the gut to post. The movie is listed under Drama and if you dont like drama, dont watch it! If you are the typical American that watches movies only to sit down on the couch and relax while eating pop-corn, rent something else. Monsters Ball is intense and well directed. The cinematography heightens its intensity and suspense. The actors are great in their role, and there is a lot of symbolism that is thrown out there for you to catch . . . if you want. Even the sex scene is much deeper than the average audience may think . . . Has anybody noticed the bird cage? The violence they showed towards their kids is only a reaction of their oppression/depression . . . hence the bird in the cage. During the shocking sex scene the director flashed images of her hands freeing the bird from the cage. If your ears were open, you heard at the end of the same scene the characters tell each other how much they needed one another. That moment is the beginning of their freedom and rest of their life together. The two characters come from completely different backgrounds and yet have many commonalities. They are meant to be and she realizes it before him.
If you put the pop-corn down you can also notice how the director portrays the drama that surrounds both characters, with the color red (symbol of passion, but also of blood and pain). You can see random red objects in both lives/houses (i.e. a red lamp, red couch, red curtains, red gumball, red handkerchief, red blood stains on her white shirt and on his white hat).
As per the racist theme in the movie, it is a very current problem in this country and if you dont like it, open your eyes and take a trip down South . . . I am from Europe and my first trip to the US started in Tennessee where whites dont go to black public pools and vice versa.
To recap, the movie is very dramatic and well done. It sends out more than one message and leaves you thinking . . .which is always good! ;)
Movie Review: Lives of desperation converge on the raw edge
Summary: 5 Stars
Billy Bob Thornton already has a fine movie to his credit for the 2001 film season, THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE. He stars in MONSTER'S BALL, a film that may possibly vie with IN THE BEDROOM for multiple Oscars.Here, Thornton plays Hank Grotowski, a senior corrections officer at a prison ostensibly placed in Georgia. Hank supervises a team of officers, which includes his son Sonny (Heath Ledger), and which is assigned to carry out the electric chair execution of a black convict. (Incidentally, a "monster's ball" is defined as the party thrown for a prison guard before he attends at his first execution.) Living with Hank at home is his aging, physically debilitated and venomously racist father, Buck (Peter Boyle), formerly a prison guard also.
The wife of the man to be executed is Leticia, played by Halle Berry. She's gamely trying to pay the rent and keep the car running by working as a waitress, and is raising an overweight son whom she sharply disciplines in an attempt to get him to stop eating everything in sight. (Leticia is convinced that fat, black men don't have a chance in America.)
Both Hank and Leticia are leading separate lives of quiet - and sometimes not so quiet - desperation, each being psychologically and emotionally dragged under by circumstances and taxing personal relationships. Then, in a series of traumatic events over a short period of time, each is cut free of burdens and left, through serendipitous accident, with only each other.
MONSTER'S BALL contains several volatile scenes of emotions on the rawest of edges, and which will keep the viewer riveted. Thornton and Berry both give exemplary performances as two people in unlikely company coming to grip with personal demons. As fair warning to the sensitive, the film incorporates episodes of intense sexuality.
Thornton has become one of my favorite actors, and this is the first time I've seen Berry in any role. I liked this movie very much, and would be hard pressed to choose between it and IN THE BEDROOM for this year's Best Picture Academy Award.
Movie Review: Excellent performances in a throught provoking film
Summary: 5 Stars
Monster's Ball is one of those rare movies which come along and envelops the viewer. The cast alone which includes Billy Bob Thornton, Peter Boyle, Heath Ledger and Halle Berry are cause enough to see the movie but the plot and outcome are further reason to see this fine film and applaud all associated with this movie. While the subject matter at times is rather grim and one may close their eyes for certain scenes, one leaves the theater feeling that this was time well spent.Billy Bob Thornton plays the son of a law enforcement officer and the father of a young man, also a law enforcement officer. He comes from a long line of bigoted men which is evident when two young black brothers want to hang out with Thornton's 20 something son. In addition to Thornton not liking blacks he doesn't seem to like his son too much either. Central to the movies plot is the execution of a black man. As Thornton and the other correction officers including his son prepare this man and then witness the execution, the viewer is likely to think this might be the end of Thornton's involvement with the executed man. But the execution has serious reprecussions on Thorntons life as a tragedy befalls him and he then meets the executed mans widow. And as they begin a rather unusual relationship you as the viewer are held mesmerized by the events unfolding on the screen.
There are parts of this movie which are truly painful to watch
and at times the viewer may find themselves overwhelmingly uncomfortable. But these feelings only further heighten the movies effect as one feels as though they are witnessing real life instead of a story. The performances are wonderful and one leaves the theater with a great deal to think about for some time. Even the title is a good choice as monster's ball was the term used in England for the party which was held the night before an execution.
Do see this movie!
Movie Review: Now this is acting!
Summary: 5 Stars
Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Barry have both given the performances of their careers here. I can see why Halle won that Oscar, which is the only reason I really wanted to see this dark, depressing, stark movie. This is not for the faint of heart, and if you are just looking for light entertainment, look elsewhere. We are talking deep here."Monster's Ball" is a look into two people lives, Hank & Leticia, and how their characters connect through the whole movie -- Her husband is executed on death row, and Hank is one of the corrections officers that assist in the execution. Sean "Puffy" Combs plays the husband, and he is quite impressive. The film also shows how they end up after so much tragedy is bestowed upon both of them. They both lose their sons, but in some sense, I didn't see them really grieving for their loss which is one part of their character that truly bonds them. They are both extremely complex, angry characters, and you want to have sympathy for them, but it isn't easy. As the film moves on, you start to feel for these characters. We get to know them on a personal level.
That aside, the performances by these two well crafted actors is just awe inspiring. It is a film worth watching just for the acting.
This is an amazingly well crafted piece of work, the acting, cinematography, excellent screenplay, and realism of it is all just brilliant. Even if it is very depressing it is also extremely engrossing, I made myself stay up way past my bedtime to watch the entire movie. It was one of the most moving pieces of cinema I've ever witnessed.
For dvd buyers, this is worth buying just to see Thornton's character "Karl" from "Sling Blade" play "Hank".
There are about four deleted scenes, and a trailer, and a little piece on how the movie was scored. That was pretty interesting.
One of the best of 2001