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Summary: Monster's Ball
Review: Halle and Billy are marvelous. There is great chemistry between them. A worthwhile movie to watch for hours. I loved it and recommend it for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Meaningful and Moving Film
Review: Halle Berry deserves the Best Actress Oscar this year. She was outstanding in Monsters Ball. The film is very shocking at times. It is very blunt when it comes to racial issues. But what it has to say is very meaningful, and necessary. An outstanding film, and social commentary.
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Summary: MONSTER'S BALL is a triumph for its seasoned performance
Review: A miraculous streak of destiny unites together poverty-strickened Leticia (Halle Berry) and execution officer Hank Gratowski (Billy Bob Thornton) in an inter-racial romance. Both are haunted by the loss of their beloved ones and draws on emotional solace through intense sexual communication. The tragedy unfolds in the town of Southern Georgia where racial discrimination is rampant - and the flawed characters reflect silently the dysfunctional society through their mannerism and attitude. Leticia castigates her obese son to shed his weight to prove "blacks are not a disgrace"; Hank is tortured in a rigid families where obligations conflicts with a strained father-and-son relationship. They meet under a twist of fate - and their romance is at once tenuous and fragile with the hidden truths...MONSTER'S BALL would not have been such a triumph if not for the strength of the versatile Billy Bob Thornton who injects subdued grief and sensitivity to the character, where Hank matures under the harsh lessons and eradicates his racism to translate his yearning for love and passion. Halle Berry in what may be her most explosive and visceral performance yet as the dignified Leticia, elevates the emotional core of the love-story. Their heated sex is a vent for their frustration and injustice done to them. Supporting cast including Heath Ledger as Hank's suppressed son and Peter Boyle as Hank's imperious father proves equally arresting. Yet as a movie Monster's Ball under Marc Forster's direction fails to break through of the love-story mold to enhance with symbolism and unravel the truths. It is a pity that the darkness of the surburban renders atmosphere and scenes like where their hands are intertwined behind a cage/fan to suggest deeper interpretation, yet it never succeeds to give the audience a clear meaning to that symbolism. There is lack of elaboration and thus totally left to the grounds of imagination even to the point of its inconclusive epilogue. As such, Monster's Ball is bolstered on the calibre of the seasoned ensemble to waltz the graceful tango of love and raw desperation. It is essentially a love-story when it could have been so much more as an insight on racism and character study.
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Summary: The Monster Mash
Review: A poor African American woman struggles to raise her severely overweight son as his father is put to death though the Georgia penal system. A hard prison guard struggles with his despicable father and his own son's incapability with death row duties. With the death of both of their sons, the unlikely couple is thrust together in a hot relationship based on want, need and mistrust. Billy Bob Thornton (SLING BLADE) is very good as the retiring death row officer and Peter Boyle (YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN) is wonderfully hate able as his father. But this film belongs to Halle Berry (SWORDFISH) as the poor mother. Monsters Ball is at its heart a character study. For those who dislike 'slice of life' films, MONSTERS INC is playing in the theatre next door.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I spent many years in "little theatre" and go to a movie or play every week (sometimes twice a week)and have to say that I was extremely disappointed in this film. As to the hype over the performances? --- definitely not academy award calibre. The female leading role was not a difficult one (unless one would consider the ability to act out raw sex to be a special gift --- if this be the case --- it's surprising that the blonde in the two short motel scenes wasn't nominated for best supporting actress, as she did a great job with her assignment.) The lead actress is very lovely and has a lovely body --- perhaps those who are looking for nominees are surprised that a woman with those attributes can act at all. Bottom line --- as I was leaving the theatre, nobody was talking about the movie, per se, nor were there any comments about the acting, but there were plenty of comments about the sex scenes. Now, I realize that sex sells, but, I don't confuse this with great movie making (which is what the academy awards should be all about.)
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Summary: Unexpected
Review: "Monster's Ball" is perhaps, along with "Waking Life", the best movie of the year. It is unbelievable that this film was passed over in the "Best Picture" category in the Academy Awards. It is rare to see an emotional story be created so intelligently, and so with no other desire than to serve the emotions themselves (contrary to those who use emotions for political propaganda, etc.) This is a blunt, tragic and ultimately greatly satisfying film. This is a smart way to make film. The director, Marc Forster, avoids all the cliche's that could possibly occur. He kills off three characters early in the film- lesser directors could have made trilogies from that stuff. Forster doesn't go by formula, but kills it off. How wonderful to see such a beautiful response to the dull Hollywood crap we are accustomed to. The main reason why he does do that though, is so that he can look at the emotions of the characters themselves. It's amazing how Forster avoids all the expected plot holes- the conflict with the father, talks of dead husbands, and espacially the ending. We are shocked, we don't know what to expect. What we get are some truly human moments. I can hardly recall any recent film to have an ending so honestly smiling at us. And we believe it. The story is, like in "Leaving Las Vegas", about two individuals who fall for each other because they need each other in their desparation. Yet that is where the similarities end- these are two seperate individuals, and we see their lives and thoughts seperately. Another great strongpoint of the film, one that is ultimately necassary, are the actors. Both leads act amazingly, the script rolls off their tongues naturally. Berry delivers the greatest female preformance of the year, and Thornton proves what a reliable actor he is- consider his role here, and the one he played right before this in "The Man Who Wasn't There". This is a very, very beautiful movie. I recommend it strongly, and hope you all see this. This is the stuff that makes life worthwhile.
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Summary: Great performances in a compelling interracial drama
Review: "Monster's Ball," directed by Marc Forster, focuses on two main characters: Hank Grotowski (played by Billy Bob Thornton), a white death row corrections officer who lives with his viciously racist father, and Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry), a black woman who struggles to raise her overweight son while her husband awaits execution in Hank's workplace. These two very different people are brought together in an intense relationship. This is a raw, gripping film. It's a pretty dark piece at times: its characters are mired in poverty, familial dysfunction, and/or racism, and there are some graphic, heartbreaking scenes of human suffering. There are also some extremely graphic sex scenes, but I feel this extreme material is wholly relevant to the characters and plot. The performances really make this film special. Coronji Calhoun is quite touching as Leticia's son. Heath Ledger and Peter Boyle offer solid support as Hank's son and father. But the film really hinges on the two leads, and they are extraordinary. Thornton brings a depth and complexity to this very difficult character. And Halle Berry! At times explosive, at times quiet and subdued, she creates a rich and full portrait of a woman going through both tragedy and passion. "Monster's Ball" asks whether, in the midst of suffering and irrational hate, there exists the possibility for redemptive love and personal transformation. I found it to be a very moving film.
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Summary: Operates on many different levels.
Review: "Monster's Ball" is the kind of movie that does one of two things: it either gives one the incentive to scribe thousands of pages in favor of or against its exposition, or it leaves one without a single word to put down. It operates on many different levels, addressing controversial issues that evoke a variety of emotional reactions in its well-drawn characters, and in the audience. The movie begins, oddly enough, with an execution that will bring the central characters together in a foray of tragedy and loss. We meet corrections officer Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), the son of a retired corrections officer whose racism runs deep within his son's beliefs. Hank's own son, Sonny (Heath Ledger), suffers from his own personal demons as a result of his father's unwillingness to show him an emotional support. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Lawrence's wife, Leticia (Halle Berry), is ready for her emotional grief to come to an end, along with her husband's life. Eleven years of raising their obese son, Tyrell, and working as a waitress to make payments on their home, has burdened her into chain-smoking and drinking, In the last moments of her visit with Lawrence, all she can say is "The only reason I'm here is so you could say goodbye to your son." And then things change. Hank and Leticia undergo personal tragedies of which I will not speak, but will compliment due to their quiet sense of dread. It is at this point that the story takes a uniquely affecting turn, as these two needy souls find themselves drawn to one another out of a need for support, which soon develops into something much richer. We, as an audience, know there will be complications arising from their relationship, due in part to Hank's racist father, as well as a secret he keeps hidden from Leticia concerning her husband. There are two solutions to these problems, one that brims with dark comedy, one that closes the film on a note of justly deserved uncertainty, each effectively brilliant in their own way. At the center of this are two very outstanding performances from Thornton and Berry, who make their characters two of the year's most convincing. Thornton has always been a man of little words (save for his previous work in the disastrous "Bandits"); here, he gets in touch with his "Simple Plan" roots by incorporating Hank with a quiet change of heart. Thornton is able to convey Hank's realization of his faults with just a few simple words, keeping the segue subtle and impacting. Berry's character, on the other hand, is more outward about her feelings, a trait that is somewhat befuddling to the conserved Hank. In perhaps the most controversial role of her career, she throws everything she has into the role of Leticia, giving us an unblinking performance that brings out the very best of her ability. In Leticia's many emotional displays and overwhelming moments of grief and pain, Berry makes us believe in the inner torments her characters must face, and comes out blazing. There are two problems I found in the film: one is its unwillingness to expand on the issue of the death penalty, the other its somewhat distanced examination of the interracial relationship between Leticia and Hank. The movie never gives us a reason to feel that there is a threat to their being together, while the execution is little more than a mere plot device used to advance the plot. Even still, "Monster's Ball" benefits from a realistic look at racism, as well as its examination of the changes people undergo in the wake of personal tragedy.
Rating:
Summary: What Raw Chemistry!
Review: My husband and I really enjoyed Monster's Ball. We didn't know what to expect but we knew we liked both actors. What a pleasant surprise! ...Great acting...seemed so realistic. So moving. Words can not explain.
Rating:
Summary: Reviting, Depressing, and Deathly
Review: The movie, much like IN THE BEDROOM, involves the death of a family member and introspection by the parents. In this movie however, there is no revenge. The quality of the movie is excellent. The acting is superb. Hally Berry looks a little too pristine and well cared for to play the impoverished character she plays. Billy Bob is totally in character. The supporting characters are also excellent. The movie is disturbing in that it involves racism, killing of family members, and poverty. It's not a feel good movie but is worth seeing.
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