Monster's Ball
Tags: tragedy

Plot synopsis:
Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), a widower, and his son, Sonny (Heath Ledger), are corrections officers in a prison in Louisiana. They reside with Hank's ailing father, Buck (Peter Boyle), a bigoted retired corrections officer whose wife committed suicide.
Hank is a deputy warden. He oversees the execution of convicted murderer, Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs). As explained to Sonny by Hank, at the diner bar the night before, a "Monster's Ball" is what the execution team calls that night's get-together. The proceedings prove too intense for Sonny, who, as he is leading Lawrence to the electric chair, vomits and then collapses.
Hank confronts Sonny in the jail's bathroom afterwards and slaps him for being so "soft" and for "ruining a man's last walk". At home, Hank attacks Sonny in his bed and tells him to get out of the house. Sonny grabs a gun and threatens his father, who backs off. The confrontation ends in their living room with Hank at gunpoint, lying on the carpet, and Sonny in Buck's customary chair. Sonny asks his father if he hates him. After his father calmly confirms that he does, and always has, Sonny responds, "Well I always loved you," and then shoots himself in the chest, dying instantly.
Hank buries Sonny in the back garden with an abbreviated funeral because, as Buck comments, "He was weak." Hank subsequently quits his job, burns his uniform in the backyard, and locks the door of Sonny's room.
During the years of Lawrence's imprisonment, his wife, Leticia (Halle Berry), has been struggling while raising their son, Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun), who has inherited his father's artistic talent. She abusively berates the boy regarding his obesity. Along with her domestic problems, Leticia struggles financially, leading to the loss of the family car and, worse, an eviction notice on her house. In desperate need of money, Leticia takes a job at a diner which is one frequented by Hank.
One rainy night, Leticia and Tyrell are walking down a soaked highway when Tyrell is struck by a car. Hank happens to be driving along and sees Leticia and Tyrell. After some hesitation, he drives Leticia and Tyrell to a hospital, but Tyrell dies upon arrival. At the suggestion of the authorities at the hospital, Hank drives her home.
A few days later, Hank gives Leticia a ride home from the diner. They begin talking in the car about their common losses, and she invites him in. Hank finds out that Leticia is Lawrence's widow, though he does not tell her that he participated in her husband's execution. They drown their grief with alcohol and have sex.
Leticia stops by Hank's home with a present for him, but he is not there. She meets Buck, who insults her and implies that Hank is only involved with her because he enjoys sex with black women. Leticia, hurt by the remarks, refuses to interact with Hank. The incident proves to be the last straw for Hank, who decides to send his father to a nursing home.
Leticia is evicted from her home for non-payment of rent, and Hank invites her to move in with him. She later discovers Hank's involvement in her husband's death when she finds a drawing of Hank done by Lawrence as he awaited execution. She erupts, but is there waiting for him when he returns from town with ice cream. The film ends with the two of them eating ice cream together on the back porch, content with each other.

Review: The result is a powerful and disturbing film that walked off with a boatload of awards, not the least of which was a best actress Oscar for Berry.Director Marc Forster conjures a forceful presentation with stark sets, next to nothing in the way of props and other set decoration, and a non existent soundtrack.
Forster could have done better at character development and the ending is nebulous and unsatisfying, but these shortcomings can be partially forgiven for the films many assets.This is an actors' showcase, with outstanding performances all around.
Billy Bob Thornton delivers his best performance since `Sling Blade' with a complex character torn between his prejudices and his attraction to Leticia (Halle Berry).Of course the big story here is Halle Berry.
"You must love him very much," reassures an attendant to the character who replies, "No I don't, but he is my father"The character, Hank, is played by Billy Bob Thornton, who makes his Academy Award-winning performance in "Sling Blade" look like SNL material.
I've seen steamier moments such as Alec Baldwin and Kim Bassinger going at it in the non-rated version of "The Getaway." Overall, this a rough film in spots but I think it is a solid, underrated drama that offers far more than the "celebrated" sex scene.
It's very rare, but occasionally a film comes along that plays out so realistically that it doesn't even seem like you're watching a movie, but participating-- albeit as an observer-- in this particular drama of life that is unfolding around you.
It's a film that says so much about the way we respond to one another, as well as certain situations, and why; in short, it's about the world that we, as a society, have created and must live in together-- right or wrong, good or bad, black or white.
There to make their final visit is Musgrove's wife, Leticia (Halle Berry), and their son, Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun), while veteran corrections officer Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) oversees the proceedings.
It takes a number of elements to make a truly great film, of course, and in this one they all come together beautifully-- especially in the performances, beginning with Billy Bob Thornton, who is without question one of the best leading men/character actors in the business.
What really takes this film to a higher level, though, is the extraordinary performance by Halle Berry as Leticia, in whom she creates a finely layered, three-dimensional character that is singularly effective and entirely believable and real.
When you come away from this film, it's with the indelible images of Leticia and Hank burned into your memory, thanks to the talents of Berry, Thornton and Forster.
But both Thornton and Berry rise above their characters' limitations - Hank's not the devil he might think he is, and Leticia isn't the angel that a lesser actress might make her out to be.It's also worth mentioning that each of the two leads has something shocking and powerful happen to them near the beginning of the film, before they really meet.
By the movie's end, he has come to grips (a little) with his failures and his shortcomings.Berry and Thornton have a great supporting cast in Boyle and Ledger.
Billy Bob Thornton gives an electrifying performance as a man grappling with his demons and wanting his better self to emerge victorious.This movie is a study in ambiguity.
Hank's son played by Heath Ledger fulfills the adage that no good deed goes unpunished, and it's never clear that anyone truly gets whats coming to them.I'm not sure one should read too much into this movie as a study of attitudes towards race in today's America, but as a portrayal of human frailty and the continuing quest for hope and optimism, Monster's Ball is a can't-miss film experience..
"Monster's Ball" is presented by Director Marc Forster as a dark, dreary film-noir like drama involving the role of fate in bringing together two different but distraught people from different races.The film opens as preparations are underway for the execution of Lawrence Musgrave (Sean Combs).
Two of the prison guards are Hank (Billy Bob Thornton) and his son Sonny (Heath Ledger).
But what if she finds out that Hank had a part in executing her husband?Berry deservedly won the 2001 Academy Award as best actress for her role as the tragic Leticia.
Calhoun evokes pity and sorrow as Leticia's son and the old Puffmeister, Combs gives a good low key performance as the doomed convict.An excellent film but be forewarned that there are a couple of graphic sex scenes in the movie.
A black prisoner is about to be executed and the middle and younger Grotowski ( Hank and Sonny respectively ) are looking after him and these scenes are amongst the most feel good moments of the story !
Billy Bob Thornton is probably best remembered as " one of the men who married Angelina Jolie " but is also one of America's underappricated actors ( His screen writing abilities are also overlooked ) who manages to rise above the sometimes inconsistent material while Halle Berry what can I say ?
Well regarded character actor and acting guru Peter Boyle might be disappointing as Hank's reactionary father but since his character spends most of his time sitting in a chair slowly dying from respiratory failure he's not given much to do But it should be pointed out once again that this is a very sad and melancholy film that won't have anyone dancing in the aisles I did appreciate the good performances but I doubt I'll be watching it again in a hurry.
HOW MUCH MORE if he grows up to be a good and handsome young man with a good job and he looks up to and admires his father so he even follows his career.We are supposed to believe that the star of the movie could be so evil that he tell his son he has always hated him and could then watch his son commit suicide and never shed a tear and then tell everyone he was glad he was dead!These kinds of things never happen in reality.
A slow, plodding drama with rumbling racial undercurrents, the film tells a simple story, though not uneventful, with finely nuanced performances, especially by Berry who earned her keep and kudos.
When a film's finest performance comes from Puffy, you know you're in trouble.I've never racism, poverty, murder, and guilt so maudlinly handled without a second of truth.I'll just list why I hated this movie:1.
Billy Bob, in the stiffest performance EVER, manages to recover from his life-long racism because Halle Berry's hot.2.
Here the main characters find redemption through personal relationships and provide hope.While some in the audience complained it was too slow, the original script by Milo Addica and Will Rokos feels like an expansion of a short story, as the outlines of the plot are fairly simple and not all the back story is explained, and riddled with coincidences barely made feasible by taking place in a small town.
Director Marc Forster finds a way to visually communicate the difference between sex and intimacy.But the actors fill the spaces of inarticulate characters with complex performances, not just award-winning Halle Berry (a long way from "X Men").
Billy Bob plays the same character he does in every single movie (although at least some of those are interesting in one way or another).You know you're in trouble when the performance in the movie is by rapper Sean P-Diddy Combs!Basically, if you're horny for Halle Berry, than you'll enjoy her sex scenes.
There is no better example of this than "Monster's Ball".Halle Berry's performance was fine, but there are some issues with her being cast in a role like this.
So, I was conflicted as to whether BBT's character finally saw the errors of his ways and now loves black folk, or whether Halle Berry was so hot, he couldn't resist her.These are just some of the many issues with this film.
Ironically Hank is a prison guard working on Death Row who executed Leticia's..." Oh please- nothing but a white male erotic fantasy movie.....a 'po' lonely black woman "falls" for a redneck inbred and it's called "love"????
It is unsparing in its depiction of all the light and dark sides of the human psyche, from racism to passion to insularity and even corpulence, mounting these on a platform so stark and unambiguous that the audience is not left with many choices - the reactions evoked are exactly the ones intended to be evoked, oscillating between disgust, outrage, sympathy, tenderness and occasionally, even a surreptitious smile.Most of the characters in the movie suffer somewhat from a lack of complexity, which is compensated for by casting them into circumstantial conflict to create the dramatic tension (a husband is electrocuted, a child dies, another child sends a bullet through his heart and into the couch behind, and so on).
No simple explanation seems satisfactory - and the credit for this questioning, this need for deconstruction, goes to Billy Bob's nuanced performance.All in all, beside the fact that some of the scenes may unsettle the squeamish, and that some promising characters like that of Grotowski's dispirited, conflicted son Sonny (played by Heath Ledger) were knocked off too early, the picture satisfies most norms for a good cinema experience - it makes you think, weep, squirm, analyze, rationalize, everything but walk out before it is over.
This movie does little to explain how this could occur and the fact that Hallie Berry needs to bare a LOT of boobs and butt and do her best to act like a porn queen should tell you all you need to know about the value of the script.
When I first heard that Halle Berry was getting publicity over a film called "Monster's Ball", a movie I had never even heard of, I was a little skeptical.
Billy Bob Thorton is as strong as he's ever been as Hank Grotowski, a selfish and racist prison guard who lives with his vicious and hateful father, Buck (Peter Boyle), and his sweet and utterly decent son Sonny (Heath Ledger).
Halle Berry is a deadbeat African-American mom of an overweight son (Coronji Calhoun) with a husband (Sean Combs) who is on Death Row. Unforseen tragic events bring these seemingly unmatchable people together, and their mutual hurt and sadness climaxes in one of the most powerful and emotional love scenes in film history.
And for a real laugh check her out trying to act like an actual southern struggling black woman in the drunk/first-time-with-Billy-Boy scene.
Well, I probably completely missed the point and I probably simply didn't get it, but it is pretty amazing Halle Berry got an Oscar for this movie !
I found myself watching the clock several times, and literally forcing myself to finish the movie, which is extremely rare for this film addict, and when the conclusion finally occurred, I was left completely empty.The performances were fine, but Halle Berry certainly was not Oscar worthy.
Monster's ball is a real and excellent drama.The plot it has and the execution of it are very intense.The level of intensity it has is really weird to see in a movie.The film is very realistic and it tells dramas of people without falling in the cheap sentimentalism.The cinematography is another great element of this movie.The performances are simply extraordinary.Halle Berry has the Academy Award very deserved.Billy Bob Thornton gives a perfect level of intensity to his character.Heath Ledger brings an excellent performance.The great Peter Boyle has an excellent and realistic performance.He plays so well his character of a bad guy that I hated his character.This is(no doubt)one of the best films of 2001..
Halle Berry's intense insecurity mixed with a murky but strong sense of personal pride anchored this film, but Billy-Bob Thornton's brilliance gave it wings.
All for the good of the movie.So now then, onto the review.Monsters Ball is a story about an excecution guard who falls for the widow of a man he recently excecuted(P Diddy??
what the...?) Her son just recently died as well so we are supposed to feel sympathy for her when she indulges in gratuitous sex with Billy Bob.The movie is NOT that well acted.
And after Halle Berry won the award over GOOD actresses like Renee Zellweger and Nicole Kidman, she further pushes the injustice by making such a racist speech, so swamped with tears that had we acknowledged this, we would be considered heartless.The sex in the movie is long and unnecessary.
Who knows where this character would end up in the hands of another actor, but I can't think of one that would have left me feeling the same way.For those of you who don't get this movie--be it for the lack of attention to certain strings of logic in what appears to be a real small town; or for its refusal to spell out for you what somebody may be thinking from moment to moment, let alone from day to day...well, I'm sure the next Matrix is gonna be real good, too.
After overseeing the execution of a black man (Sean 'Diddy' Combs) a couple of tragedies compel the father, Hank (Thornton), to meet the struggling ex-wife of the executed man (Halle Berry).The cast, locations, score and directing are all excellent.
The spare and sophisticated screenplay (by Milo Addica and Will Rokas) is about institutionalized bigotry passed down in a womanless family of prison guards (father Peter Boyle, son Billy Bob Thornton and grandson Heath Ledger) and how extreme emotions come to resolve the ambiguity associated with such hatred--the characters, in their search for release from hatred's grip, become better men by taking the actions they take.
The late Heath Ledger is also very good as Sonny, desperately trying to live up to his father's unrealistic expectations of him.Roger Ebert said of "Monster's Ball" that "The movie has the complexity of great fiction" and considered it the best film of 2001.
And that's why I think Monster's Ball is an outstanding film:  it's an unusually bold excursion into the personal and social dynamics of shame, which are inherently intertwined.Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) plays a Mississippi `corrections' officer, who has the job of escorting death row inmates to the electric chair.
But "Monster's Ball" is so slow and intense and ignores all of the standard "drama issues" you have to think for yourselve what this is all about.For me it's about love, hate, hope, racism, father-son/mother-son relationships, escaping from your past life, death, depressions, failures and many other things.
The father son relationship between Billy Bob Thornton and Heath Ledger is particularly emotional and feels very real.
I certainly understand why Halle Berry was awarded her Oscar; like I said before, the acting was superb.
Though Halle Berry was the only performer from this film recognized by the Academy, I do not feel that she was the only actor deserving praise.
Iv just finished watching this film and it left me SO disappointed as I had really high expectations.First off Halle Berry is brilliant in the movie and you really buy into her character and her emotions and heart-break, she's effortless in what appears to be her comfort zone.
The oral sex scene again felt totally un-necessary and just took away from the drama and emotion in the film.I found myself relieved when it ended after a very weak ending that left me wondering why I wasted my time watching the movie, damn high expectations!
Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry are fantastic as they keep the viewer mesmerised throughout a film that could be described a slow at the best of times.
There are a few powerful moments of high drama in this film, but in general they are too few and far between to really save this rather weak story that gets surprisingly good ratings.There are decent performances from Halle Berry as Leticia, whose husband has just been executed in prison and Billy Bob Thornton as Hank, the head guard at the prison.
it stars Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry and Heath Ledger.
Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Leticia Musgrove This was a wonderful non-fiction film with great acting.This is a fabulous film but it did not do very well at the box office.
And screenwriters should study it, just to view it's character studies.Like in the final moment of the film, Monster's Ball left me speechless, and it is now, a year after that I'm able to put in words, how much this movie moved me..
The man in question is Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) and the woman he falls for is Leticia (Halle Berry).
I've always been a fan of Billy Bob Thornton's abilities and this movie is no exception - his taciturn, stoic nature plays beautifully into the role of Hank, a man used to repressing his emotions under the harsh rule of his father (with whom he still lives).
Of course, this is the tabloid view, forgetting the fact that this is a superior film, at the heart of which is a simple and beautiful love story.This is the best work that the aforementioned Ms. Berry has ever done, and her Oscar was well deserved.
There was not enough of either actor in this film.There is nothing I can say about Peter Boyle and Billy Bob Thornton.
I find it amazing that Billy Bob Thornton for this film, in the same year as his astounding performance in the Coen Brother's `The Man Who Wasn't There', was not even nominated for Best Actor.
Monster's Ball is subtle, brutal and hopeful; a fine piece of film making.Billy Bob Thornton plays Hank who heads the killing team in a Georgian prison in early 1990's America.
Who knows, but those few minutes made me think about her like very few other movie character I can remember.Billy Bob Thornton throws also a very good performance.