Rating: 
Summary: One of the best dramatic films to come along in years.
Review: I've been reading some of the negative Amazon.com reviews of this film in general and Halle Berry's performance in particular. As everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion, I must say that I vehemently disagree with all of the slamming reviews. USA TODAY's December 25, 2001 review said it best that "'Monster's Ball' shows that Halle Berry had a spectacular performance inside her just waiting to be unleashed, and that Billy Bob Thornton had a third one [after "Bandits" and "The Man Who Wasn't There"] in his awesome 2001 stockpile." After seeing this film, I agree 100%.In particular, Berry gives the best on-screen performance of her entire career. Not only does she get by on the sheer brute force of her acting, but Berry appears to have pulled the necessary emotional resources from her very bone marrow to encapsulate the role of Leticia Musgrove, a self-loathing woman who seems to get dealt one bad hand after another. She and Thornton's character, Hank Grotkowski (a death row prison guard and second-generation bigot), represent two damaged souls who come to need each other to maintain what little sanity that remains in the insane world that surrounds them. Thornton should have received an Oscar nomination for his performance, and the #1 reason that Berry snagged the Best Actress Oscar at the 74th Academy Awards on March 24, 2002 is because, quite simply, she deserved it. Period. Dorothy Dandridge is probably still smiling.
Rating: 
Summary: What was all the fuss about????!!!!
Review: Halle Berry - I've seen her do better. Billy Bob - hasn't been the same since "Sling Blade." The premise was good but the movie's pace was waaay too slow. Another reviewer hit it on the head: being a racist doesn't go away in one night as it did with the Billy Bob character. Had high hopes for this movie, but was disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: The Ultimate Waste of a Good Cast
Review: Honestly, I'm not a big fan of anti-racism films because they're all pretty much the same. Not to mention this is the most horrible one yet. Billy Bob Thornton plays a Police Officer working on Death Row, who has recently put a black man to death. He later meets the man's widow, a black waitress played by Halle Berry. The two begin to develop a romantic relationship and Thornton's racism is put to the test. Like most anti-racism films, this one had potential to be a good movie. However, everything in it is so flawed it wasn't even worth my time. First of all, the sex scene. I don't mind sex scenes in films, but is it really necessary to have it that long and graphic? I got the point after the first time. It just made the scene more and more uninteresting as it went along. The entire rest of the film is filled with a loathable supporting cast, most notably Peter Boyle, who plays Billy Bob Thornton's extremely racist father. Now, if you're going to have unlikable characters in a film, they can't just be braindead hicks! The rest of the film's problems lies in its overbearing screenplay which left me thinking, "What is the point in all this?" That racism is bad? If you're going to tell me that, which I really don't need to be told in the first place, tell it to me well. Don't just throw a bunch of grotesque images onto the screen and expected me to care. The one good thing about this movie is the surprisingly watchable performance given by Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. All the other performances are mostly forgettable (Halle Berry was NOT Oscar-worthy), which is surprising, considering there are such good actors in it. If all you care to see is Halle Berry's breasts, then you will probably like this film. Otherwise, if you want a good anti-racism film, just rent Jungle Fever.
Rating: 
Summary: tough, gritty film
Review: This is the type of movie i think you need to see multiple times. The first time I saw the movie I was primarily shocked. There are scenes of shocking violence, racism, sex, and cruelty. But the second time I saw it, I began to look past the initial shock value and see the carefully constructed story. The third time I saw it, I actually began to view the entire movie as an uplifting "real world" tale.
Of the two lead performances, I find Halle Berry's more showy but ultimately less moving. She's the more sympathetic character, but honestly it's an easier part to play. It's easy to feel for the put-upon trailer trash mother. Billy Bob Thornton's character is quieter, his despair more low-key. He eschews grandiose displays of emotion, and gives his racist, abusive character a soft-spoken kindliness that's both sad and chilling. Heath Ledger is very fine as Thornton's sensitive son, as is Peter Boyle as Thornton's mean old father.
Rating:
Summary: unbelievably explicit sex scenes from respected actors
Review: I rented the DVD because of the actors in the film, didn't know anything about it prior to seeing it at the video store. Whoa!! I could forgive the rear entry sex scene from the son with a hooker, then Billy Bob about does the same(the hooker bends over nude, but he decides not to go ahead.), but when Billy Bob Thorton and Halle Berry do the same for an unusually long period of time on screen, that is over the top for respected actors. She got an award?? I thought the no-name actors did the gratuitous things like rear entry worthy of porn. You could watch this by yourself for self-gratification, but nothing else. Don't bring a friend or spouse, IT WILL BE UNCOMFORTABLE, I PROMISE. Didn't even finish the movie as I wondered who else would come forward that I used to respect and do the unimaginable...
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, uplifting, and wonderfully entertaining.
Review: "Monster's Ball" is an astonishingly beautiful film. Perhaps as much a love story as anything else, this wonderful, uplifting work of art was hampered from finding a wider audience by its misleadingly grim title and too much publicity about its scenes involving a state penitentiary (which, not to give anything away, end early in the film). Instead, this is a deeply compelling story about the redemptive power of love and the ability of people to find happiness by overcoming their past. Every scene is absorbing, the script is amazing, and the actors are astounding. Halle Berry earned (and I mean "earned") an Oscar for her role, and Billy Bob Thornton deserved one. It's incredible what he can do by doing so little; with just a slight glance or small shrug, he conveys volumes. Get past the poor title; this is a wonderfully entertaining, uplifting, life affirming, beautiful film that you will thoroughly enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Best Movie Of 2002 Without A Doubt!!!
Review: THIS MOVIE WAS VERY POWERFUL,AND DRAMATIC!I HAVE SEEN THIS MOVIE OVER 30 TIMES AND IT IS JUST GETTING BETTER AND BETTER.HALLE BERRY DESERVED THE OSCAR FOR THIS MOVIE.EVERYONE SHOULD CHECK THIS MOVIE OUT IT'S WORTH IT.
Rating: 
Summary: It's Alright, I Guess
Review: I have mixed feelings about this movie. The movie was ok and Halle's acting was good, but she didn't deserve to win Best Actress and its ashame that she became the first black woman to win an award for that role. My opinion is Angela Bassett should have won for What Love Got To Do With It. Most people I know who have seen this movie more than twice, saw it because of the "love" scenes. I also find it hard to believe that a bigot can change his mind about black people in one night. Also what period was this movie base from? The 50's or the 90's. Its hard to figure out. Also I could tell that a man from Europe directed this movie. That's not a diss, but an admiration for their view on race and women of color. See it once and then let it go.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: To understand the movie, you have to have some kind of understanding of where it coming from. you have to be able to relate in some way. Or at least be able to empathize with those in their positions. I was able to do just that. Growing up in the south and seeing for myself the invisible line that divides the races and the cultural taboo of interracial relationships brought the film closer to home for me. I think it was excellently done. Halle Berry's role was deep and hard to play and she did very well. She deserved any award and recognition she got her performance. Great movie! I do agree, however, that the ending did disappoint me. It would have added a great dramatic climax if they had explored Halle's finding out about Billy Bob's involvement in her husband's execution.
Rating:
Summary: An incredibly moving film
Review: Indeed, I must agree with so many other reviewers that this was one of the most moving films I've ever seen: it moved my feet straight out the room. It also moved my stomach in ways that shouldn't be discussed in public forum. My eyelids were also moved STRAIGHT DOWN. About the only thing that didn't move was the plot. My girlfriend made me watch it in return for making her watch 'Vanilla Sky', and the only way I could survive was by throwing in frequent jibes. Most of which ran along the lines of 'was that supposed to be a plot point?' 'Well, my life is a hollow lie' and 'Eeeeennnnndddd' and then it did, and I was left totally bewildered. Okay, before I get blown off as some uncultured moron who can't wait for Steven Seagal's next film, I'd like to say that I was actually optimistic about this one. It got solid reviews from people who have loved great films like 'Mulholland Dr' and 'Memento'. And I do enjoy a well crafted romance story like 'What Women Want' and 'The Bachelor'. But this was neither well-crafted or romantic. If films had an EKG, this sucker flat-lined about ten minutes in when Heath Ledger shoots himself ('was that supposed to be a plot point?'). The 'plot' itself was less substantial than a twinkie. Billy Bob Thornton (I'm sorry but I can't take this man seriously) plays a Corrections Officer, something my Dad has done in real life for a number of years. Ledger is his son, Sonny (boucoup points in the creative naming there), who is appearantly searching for a fullfilling relationship but his upbringing hasn't taught him how to find it. I say 'appearantly' because the entirety of his part is a quick romp with some random girl, botching Puffy Combs' execution, being yelled at by Thornton, then shooting himself for no appearant reason. The purile love story between Thornton and Halle Berry (whose carreer has been a long line of miracles of mediocrity) is so utterly simplistic, yet insanely complicated that it feels like a High school romance rather than an adult relationship. Maybe that was the point, but how is that entertaining? Berry tries vainly to get her son to let go of his father, Combs, by drawing his focus to his own short-comings. She focuses her own sorrow into getting him to loose weight for about five seconds, by slapping him around for eating chocolate. Thornton broods around because the son he hated is dead? ('Well, my life is a hollow lie') Then he and Berry start their 60s-esque High School romance, then they sleep together in a scen that is so dark (visually) that I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be sexy or a dark cave. Suddenly Berry's son is gone. He just disappears off the face of the Earth. Which is okay because he served no purpose whatsoever (much like the rest of the characters). Just as I'm screaming 'End' at my TV Thornton sits on the porch, rubs Berry's back and says 'It'll b okay' then the credits rolled and I had no idea what happened. The ending was so abrupt I wondered if the DVD had a scratch and had skipped a bunch of stuff. Nope, it just ended that way. Basically, I'm still trying to figure out why in the name of everything good and pure this film was made. I realize that this is a pretty acurate portrayal of actual lives, but so what? Are people's personal lives really so dull and meaningless that this is the proxy they choose to add meaning to their grind? There are lots of real lives out there, why make a movie about the hopelessly immature and miserable? I'm sorry, but the endless pain and suffering of my fellow human beings is not entertainment, it's sadistic. This movie had no meaning, no artistic vision. Granted it was directed by a Swede, so I can't be too hard on it. But this film is to be skipped, buried, and remembered only by Mystery Science Theater 3000.
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