Monster's Ball

Rating:
Summary: Well Made, But Disturbing
Review: Is "Monster's Ball" a good movie?. Yes. Is it overly watchable?. Well, that's up to you. It is a tough, disturbing film that will no doubt be disliked by many. Look at the poor reviews for that. It is not the kind of movie that you can watch again, or even have an easy, good time watching it for the first time. It is not an enjoyable, entertaining experience. It is not supposed to be. Some people just don't get that. Billy Bob Thornton stars as Hank, a corrections officer down south. He has a strained relationship with his son Sonny(Heath Ledger), and a crothety old father(Wonderfully done by Peter Boyle). When we meet Hank, he is getting ready to put to death a man(Sean Combs AKA P.Diddy). We soon learn that Hank and his father are racist people. The elder one being even nastier. In comes Leticia Musgrove(Hallee Berry), the widow of the just executed man. She has a son and is struggling to make ends meet. Thru an accident that happens, she winds up meeting Hank. Before long, her and Hank strike up an unlikely friendship. ...Hank begins having a change of heart(which is a little far fetched that it happened so quickly and easily). This new union is likely to have trouble in it's future, and it does, in the form of Hank's father. The movie is directed very well. It gets the mood and the town right. It feels bleak and depressing, like the lives of our characters. Then there are the actors. Billy Bob is always good. Always real. He is one of the best we got working today. He makes interesting choices. He always makes them believeable. Hank is no exception. Wonderfully played. Hallee is a woman who won the Oscar and was deserving of it. There have been some not so nice comments about that. Whatever. She did a remarkable job. She made Leticia a human being. When she was down on her luck and depressed, we felt it. We saw it. It was real. She was great. Her winning the Oscar just being about politics is a bunch of bull. ... Now, I can say that she is a wonderful, competent actress. Peter Boyle is very effective. Never before have you seen Peter Boyle like this. This will make you look at him on "Everybody Loves Raymond" very differently. Extremely good. Heath Ledger has a rather small role, but he does the best with what he's got. Too bad he didn't have more. Sean Combs is not P. Diddy here. He does a good, respectful job here. He has a shot at a film career if he wants one. The sex scene is graphic and raw. It's off-putting. It's the most real and raw sex scene I've ever seen(and there haven't been many)this side of an X rating. It didn't alter my opinion on Hallee one bit. When you've lost everything and your in a dead zone, who knows what you would do. You know?. This movie is based on a tough subject matter. It's not for everyone and it isn't easy to watch. It shouldn't be judged by your thoughts on Hallee, the Oscar win, or the plot of the movie. It's a well written, directed, and acted movie, and it deserves to be seen as such. The only problem I had with this movie was the ending. I am not quite sure what happened there. It could've been better. So, in the end, it's a powerful film with powerful performances, but not for everyone. Great performances.

Rating:
Summary: Too violent for my eyes...
Review: I only got through about a third of this movie and then I had to turn it off. Way too violent. Objectively the acting is good, if it affected me this much. But I can't watch a half hour of intense child abuse and racism and other [stuff] without feeling queasy. Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton must have been good in it, because I absolutely *hated* both of them after the first 20 minutes of the movie and didn't care what happened to them. OR maybe they were good actors but the plot was too intense. I found out later that something terrible happens to Halle Berry and is supposed to make you feel sympathy for her, but I never felt any. The two of them are a couple of monsters and deserve every bit of their misery. So, you decide...if you have a strong, strong stomach and can get through the first half of the movie, then stick with it. Otherwise, do like me and go rent a disney movie instead. I get enough [stuff] every night from the evening news.

Rating:
Summary: I don't know what to make of it
Review: "Monster's Ball" got such great reviews for being "riveting, emotional, etc. etc." I watched it out of curiosity to see if Halle Berry deserved her Oscar and if the movie deserved all the hype.
I needn't go into the story as other reviews will spell it out for you. I'll merely tell you what I thought. There were some powerful emotional moments in this film, namely Sonny's (Heath Ledger) moment of truth and Leticia (Berry) having a breakdown at the hospital. Other than that, I find the resolution of the movie way too easy. Am I to believe that Frank (Billy Bob Thornton) completely reverses his racist views after meeting one person? Well, I suppose it could happen, but most changes that dramatic are not overnight I'm afraid to say. The sex scenes were provocative, but I think that might have been just more capitalization on Halle's body. The gratuitous nudity was unnecessary. I got the point early on.
And the ending? I think there might have been more conflict there, but it's kind of left unexplored. I thought, "That's it?"
I did think that "Monster's Ball" had potential to be a better movie, but the performances were pretty good and the intense scenes made it watchable.
Million dollar question: did Halle Berry deserve her Oscar? I think she's a wonderful actress, but I think her win may have been a political issue. I congratulate her for being the first African-American best actress, but I question the academy's judgment. I think Nicole Kidman gave the performance of the year, but nevermind.

Rating:
Summary: Up-hill battle against poorly conceived bad reviews
Review: I don't plan on trying to argue against the bad reviews on a point by point basis.
Instead, it's my opinion that the bad reviews are related to the fact that this film has no car chases, no explosions, so spurting blood, special effects, or any of the other [stuff] that makes up "popular films these days".
In my review I would say that this is a very well written movie, that is very well acted. The only characer I was uncomfortable with was Halle Berry's son, the first time I watched this film I didn't think he did a very good job. But the second time I realized just how much this kid had been through and why he had turned out as he had.
You won't like this film if you don't like intense drama's driven exclusively by character development.
Caution: this film requires thinking----they do not lay the whole story out for you!

Rating:
Summary: Boring, BORing, BORING
Review: I got this because Halle Berry won Best Actress, not sure how she did this after watching it. I wanted to turn it off at least six times waiting for some action.... It took me two nights to get through it. The dialogue was extremely slow, long drawn out scenes... I'd rather watch golf or grass grow... I will give this DVD away..... yuck!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: didn't deserve the hype
Review: This movie was extremely overhyped!
Yes blacks have been discriminated against in the past and there are alot of worthy black actors and actresses who have been unjustly overlooked for past academy awards.
However by giving the best actress award to Halle Berry I can only come to the conclusion that she recieved this award because she's black!
Denzel earned his on talent alone.
Halle was given hers based on skin color and this is not the way to make up for past injustices.

Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY HONEST FROM BEGINNING TO INCREDIBLE END
Review: I rented Monsters' Ball and watched it tonight. Every time the phone rang, I ignored it, so riveted was I. The performances of Billy Bob Thornton and Hallie Berry are beyond Oscar quality. The supporting actors, particularly Peter Boyle and Heath Ledger, make every moment of their limited roles count. The script is restrained, allowing the story to develop at a leisurely pace without the histrionics that accompanied, say, From Hell. The humanity of it all! How often we make decisions without really making them. Hank's father was a prison guard; Hank is a prison guard; Sonny is a prison guard. Rings my bell. I'm ordering a copy tonight. By the way, the ending is slam-bang on target. I won't spoil it for you by giving it away. Let's just say that the inevitable happens and Leticia makes her decision. Or does she? And just why does she? No neat endings here, just like our lives.

Rating:
Summary: A Dissapointment
Review: This movie was one that I had been waiting to see. I should have waited longer. Halle Berry was good -- but not good enough for an oscar for sure. Just because she is in a race related drama, breaks down when her son dies, and has at least a 5 minute soft-core porn scene with Billy Bob doesn't make the role deserving of best actress. Sissy Spacek (In the Bedroom) and Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge) were both more deserving. Overall, I don't think the movie served a point. I have seen plenty of race-related dramas -- this one taught me nothing I didn't know already. Seeing it just made me dissapointed in Halle Berry (and her need for some raunchy scenes) and the oscars in general.

Rating:
Summary: Ordinary Story........Extraordinary Performance
Review: This is a story about regular people getting over hurdles in their lives. Parenting, coping with limited financial resources, racism, being overweight are some of the everyday issues involved. However what makes this movie such a success is the sterling performance by the actors especially Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton. They definately brought the scenes to life and made us feel as though we were just peeking through our window and observing persons our neighborhood. They made the audience feel every emotion a particular scene conveyed. Definately Oscar material.

Rating:
Summary: The Truth
Review: worst movie ever, don't even watch it! pointless story, with a good cast! how could anyone do any worse? don't even think about watching this film, u r too good for it!