Rating: 
Summary: 2nd worst movie ever
Review: ...the academy has the audacity to award a horrible performance like ms berry's is hard to believe.. politics, politics, hollywood doesn't award great performances anymore (examble russell crow for "a beautiful mind") it just gives awards to whoever they choose good performance or not.. her performance was truly embarrassing...i found myself laughing through most of the movie..the sex scene was gross and over the top..you know,, the only performance i can even note as halfway believable was sean combs as the convicted man.. he was very good.. other than that please don't waste the money to rent this movie.. it is truly a "monster" as its name says......
Rating: 
Summary: Last 12 Months a Tour de Force by Thornton
Review: I knew Billy Bob Thornton was talented when I saw him for the first time in "Sling Blade," which he starred in plus wrote and directed. Little did I suspect though that he was hiding a talent with such range under that semi nerd appearance. In the last 12 months, I've seen him reinvent himself so many times that I couldn't tell you who Billy Bob Thornton really is (Bandits and The Man Who Wasn't There, to name two). And, boy, does he not shy away from a difficult, even potentially hateful role. In this film, Thornton and his son (Heath Ledger) are the death row guards for Halle Berry's husband who is about to be executed. Far from that execution's being the main event of the movie, it serves to set off a chain reaction of events that show the two characters, played by Thornton and Berry, in depth as human beings with multi facets. Each of them has a son and each could be called a bad parent. Each has a scene with his/her respective son that will take you way past any comfort zone. Then, there's Thornton's relationship with his father, played by Peter Boyle, a truly despicable man. With all these jagged edges, it is surprising that the movie is at heart a relationship movie about Thornton and Berry as a couple and not a film about death row or parents and sons. Berry is outstanding and certainly did an Oscar worthy performance. The only other film I've seen her in is "Swordfish". Many people might not even guess that this is the same actress. As for Thornton, he is that rarity, a triple or quadruple threat talent: he can act (comedy and drama equally), write (The Gift and Slingblade), direct, sing, drum. I guess the only question is, Can He Dance? If he can't, give him a few lessons and I'm sure we'll see him in a Fred Astaire remake next.
Rating:
Summary: original and memorable
Review: I'm laughing at the reviewer who bashed this movie because he thought it was a pretentious Jungle Fever clone. Pay attention next time. This movie is NOT about racial inequality. Yeah traces of racism exist in the film but race is not the focal point nor does it move the plot. The movie is an observation about humanity itself, more specifically how two individuals who are exact opposites can gravitate toward each other out of need. And it does a great job of working this - dropping two characters into deepening tragedy (the first half is a non-stop series of depressing events), having them discover and realize they need each other, and showing how the resulting relationship amounts to a rebirth.The ending of the film, which has us anticipating and interpreting one of the character's reactions, is one of the best I've seen - totally unpredictable and magically cathartic. BTW I'm also a 23 year old Asian guy in college. I don't see what that's got to do with anything.
Rating:
Summary: beatiful
Review: Any movie that has Halle Berry ripping her shirt of and saying "make me feel GOOOOD!" and then getting it from behind gets 5 starts from me. I bet the people from swordfish feel stupid now that hey payed her so much just to show her breasts. It is a great movie none the less, but halle just makes it even better being naked for about four minutes.
Rating:
Summary: "They call it the Monster's Ball."
Review: "Monster's Ball" is the kind of film that very often doesn't get made. It characters are unlikable at first glance, it deals heavily with racism, death, and sex. It is a small miracle then that Marc Forster was able to deliver this very special motion picture to us. Set in the urban wasteland of the modern south, "Monster's Ball" at first concerns itself with the lives of Hank, played by Billy Bob Thornton, and his son Sonny, played by Heath Ledger. Father and son both work as correction officers, often in charge of administering the death penalty. Both lead empty, joyless lives, largely as the result of their bigoted upbringings. .... The acting in this film is glorious. Billy Bob Thornton creates in Hank a man who seems incapable of love, but is very vulnerable underneath his exterior of hatred. Halle Berry gives a raw and real performance as Leticia, daring to make the audience hate her. She is a bad mother and a failure, but she also has a deep well of love and a determination to survive. Heath Ledger gives a surprisingly layered performance as the hopeless Sonny. He is only on screen for a short time, but plays against type and makes Sonny a very haunted young man. Sean Combs also does well as Leticia's doomed husband, a man who has long since repented for his sins. Peter Boyle also strikes a nerve as the vulgar and bigoted father of Hank. "Monster's Ball" does not dwell on the consequences of an interracial relationship in the South. It is an intense, heartbreakingly beautiful film that tells the uncompromised and utterly real story of two very flawed and human people who have lost everything, but somehow manage to find comfort in each other's arms. Maybe that is the most important thing about "Monster's Ball." Hank and Leticia never declare their love for one another. They simply feel a comfort with each other, a bond that goes beyond love. When they are together, they hurt a little less. Leticia begs Hank to "make me feel good." Hank and Leticia may never feel good, but at least they feel better. And they realize that maybe there is a future for them, after all.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Film With Blistering Performances From Berry/Thorton!
Review: Monsters Ball is one of those movies you watch when it comes out, and you say to yourself "well that was a great movie". Then a week later you see it on cable and watch it again and think, didnt I already watch this? The performances are superb, but the story ends too abruptly. You're still wondering, well is that it? Come on! You look through the DVD extra features and beg for about a 20 minute extended ending. However, the movie will keep your attention, but its like someone with A.D.D, you seen it yet you forgot it. The storyline is based around Hank (Billy Bob Thorton) who has more or less a meaningless, dastardly job as the supervisor over the executions. After his son (Heath Ledger) messes up the last walk for a inmate on deathrow (Sean "P-Diddy" Combs) Hank angrily confronts him and the result ends in his son committing suicide right in front of him. The inmate who is put to death leaves his wife (Halle Berry) a widow with a young son. But after her son ends up a hit-and-run causing him to die. With that in mind Berry and Thorton start a "common bond" relationship which makes Thorton's dad (a racist S.O.B) angry. All leading to an enevitible ending. Halle Berry turns in an Oscar Winning performance. Dont miss it, but you wont remember it. Its too easily dismissed!
Rating:
Summary: Halle Earned Her Oscar, but This Movie Is Unsettling
Review: "Monster's Ball" is about two people who are united through circumstance and tragedy. Billy Bob Thornton plays Hank, a prison guard who has an adult son (an impressive Heath Ledger) and takes care of his boorish, redneck father. Halle Berry is Leticia, a woman whose husband (a very good Sean Combs) is on death row, can't seem to hold down a job, and vents her frustrations on her obese young son. Neither Hank nor Leticia is a very good parent, and they come from two entirely different backgrounds. But on one rainy evening, they cross paths with each other, and from there a relationship begins. However, what Leticia doesn't know is that Hank was one of the people who assisted her husband's execution. And, as with almost all interracial relationships, tension rises between them, and Hank is forced to confront his racist demons. This is a very upsetting movie, and the material deals with some very volatile issues. But it soars on the strength of the performances. The spotlight is clearly Halle's, who rightfully earned her Oscar. An actress known for her beauty, she de-glamed herself in this gritty performance, and she pulled it off without faking a single move. But props also has to go to Billy Bob Thornton, who gives a dynamite performance as well. Following "The Man Who Wasn't There," Thornton is on a roll, and is becoming one of the finest actors in the last ten years. And let's not forget rapper Mos Def, who makes a brief, but compelling appearance as Hank's neighbor. "Monster's Ball" may be a tough movie to sit through, but it's easily one of the best films of 2001 and warrants a purchase.
Rating:
Summary: What a Waste of Film
Review: I like all the actors in this movie, with such talent, I thought it would be a great movie. My husband and I sat like deers caught in the headlights watching this movie. It is depressing, hard to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: halle is mediocre
Review: An hour and a half of this movie was all I could take. I never once bought into Halle Berry's performance. Her dialect came across as more phony and forced than natural. Her "give me what I want scene" was meant to be taken seriously but she was so stodgy I couldnt help but laugh. The other actors are decent. The movie would have been great if it had been about Billy Bob and Mos Defs characters.
Rating:
Summary: Peee Yewww !
Review: Stinky, stinky, stinky !!!
Heavy on racism, hatred, intolerance and the death penalty, these subjects are reduced to the level of worn out cliche. The two people who make the movie slightly interesting (both sons) are killed off early in the plot. The rest of the next 30 minutes consists of the 'foreplay' leading up to the tackiest of sex scenes. And neither bill-bob or Hallie-tosis gave oscar level performances. Boring !!
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