This is a Resurfaced review written in 2002 or earlier. For more information, please visit this link: Resurfaced Reviews.

Monster’s Ball

Rating

Director

Marc Forster

Screenplay

Milo Addica, Will Rokos

Length

1h 51m

Starring

Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Peter Boyle, Coronji Calhoun, Sean Combs, Mos Def, Charles Cowan Jr., Taylor LaGrange

MPAA Rating

R

Review

A white death row prison guard and black mother fall into an unusual relationship in “Monster’s Ball,” a film that tries to break a traditional taboo that seems to have been left untouched.

Billy Bob Thornton plays Hank Grotowski, a bigoted prison officer whose own son, Sonny (Heath Ledger), has joined his ranks. Sonny has no problems with persons of color, but in the racially divided south, it is a rare occurrence. Hank, however, agrees very much with his father Buck (Peter Boyle) who firmly believes that blacks are nothing but trouble.

One of Hank’s inmates is Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs), death-sentenced husband to Leticia (Halle Berry) and father to Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun). Leticia has been forced to reexamine her life after her husband’s incarceration. She takes on a job at a local diner where she serves Hank ice cream after his son befalls an unfortunate accident.

Not long after, Leticia’s son is involved in an accident. She is forced to seek consolation anywhere she can and Hank happens to be the one who drives them to the hospital.

From there, director Marc Foster examines the tensions and realities of these two amazingly diverse persons drawn together through accidents involving their sons. It is a poignant story with terrific performances, but lacks the pacing needed to keep it running until the end.

Thornton delivers his second best performance of the year as a gruff bigot who must examine his own essence after his son’s mishap. Boyle plays opposite Thornton has his more opinionated father. His performance is similar, but more crude than his role on television’s “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

The true star of this film is Berry whose performance is grand, exquisite and more emotionally devastating than the film itself. She captures horror and sorrow so adequately that she virtually melts into the role of the self-destructive, lovelorn mother. Berry continues to prove that she has both the attitude and the prowess to soar above the heads of many of her fellow thespians. She stands tall with the great, pioneering black women like Cicely Tyson and Dorothy Dandridge, who she portrayed in a separate television feature. She also makes her place known next to modern talents like Alfre Woodard and Angela Bassett.

The rest of the film plays like a movie made for television. While it contains some very graphic language, it doesn’t contain anything that wouldn’t fit more tolerably on the small screen. It has a terrific expressive core while managing to keep away from the oppressive nature of other topic films.

Much of the success of the film can be attributed to its scribes Milo Addica and Will Rokos who have created a very real, very involving tale that wrenches the soul and challenges the mind. Unfortunately, the film’s failings fall on Foster who keeps the film’s pace slow and plodding while forgetting about its audience’s knowledge and ability to understand at a faster rate.

For a message movie, “Monster’s Ball,” is a successful, if not sluggish, cautionary tale that questions its viewers and asks them to decide if the relationship that develops is genuine and worth what is put into it. The film does contain some complex themes, but with proper adult supervision, even younger viewers will be able to comprehend and appreciate this diverse fable.

Review Written

April 16, 2002