MONSTER'S BALL - 7/10 (B-)
The performances are what really makes the movie. Halle Berry was amazing, as was Billy Bob. It's one of those movies that gets all of this praise and when you see it, you figure it's basically because of the acting. I doubt I'd ever watch it again. It was good but not great. I thought Halle's best acting in the film was right before the sex scene, when they were on the couch. I thought that acting was just amazing.

This movie was a dissappointment from fron to back. In a classic case of adversity overcoming racism (rather than supporting it, which doesn't hold true to observation) the couple come together over the loss of loved ones. Ok, even overlooking the above problems, the movie then does not really unfold as an obstacle-ridden love story, but as a kind of boring soft sex stroy, where Berry see's the light when Billy Bob goes down on her. The constant resorting to tears and sex just got monotonous after the third trip down each lane, and eating ice cream really isn't about a vision of the future or a reflection of the past. Its just another weak resolution to an all around uncreative and mildly regressive movie.

Bleh.

C-

" Make me feel GOOD!" HAHA! I still get a laugh from my wife when I use that line on her. You know, it's what Halle yells right before she and Billy Bob consumate their passionate lust for each other. This isn't a terrible movie, but it's not that great either. I thought Halle was at her best in the movie's final moments....her eyes convey everything. My grade: C+.

I gave it a C just for seeing Berry's goods,it would have been an F without it.

C. Agree with the weak reviews for this movie.

Another average 2001 film, 7 February 2002



*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Does contain spoilers:

I am often amused when certain films are released and are lionized by the critics and ignored by the public. These are the kinds of films that critics see that make them feel they are kings of their own castles. These are the kinds of films that make them feel as though they are the wise in a land filled with commoners that know little or nothing at all about film. But ask yourself this question, is a film made to become a critical success or is it made to appease an audience? I have always believed that the best films offer an equal amount to each side. I think it is wise for films to offer some material that will make you think long after the film is over but it is also prudent to give the audience what it wants to see. After all, at the end of day, we all want to see movies so that we may be entertained.

Monster's Ball is a film in the tradition of Affliction, Last Tango In Paris and The Pledge. These are the types of films where great actors take on roles they normally shun in the name of garnering some Oscar nods. They may be at a lull in their career or they are just financially secure enough that they can do something a little unorthodox. These are the films that have a pretty standard thought process behind them, contrary to what critics will have you believe. The guidelines to films like this can range from anything from sex to cure loneliness, middle-aged crisis in a small town or problems in your life stemming from your own pedigree. They all work by the numbers and all are praised as being "landmark films", or "a daring and risky effort by all involved", or "mesmerizing....(said actor) shows range and versatility that he/she has never displayed before". And really it is all just a publicity ploy to get you to watch a film that you may not have ordinarily flocked to in the first place. Monster's Ball falls into this category.

Billy Bob Thorton plays a second generation prison guard named Hank Growtowski, who cares for his retired prison guard father and also lives with his son, who is also a prison guard at the same prison and under his father's command. His son, Sonny is portrayed by Heath Ledger and as the film opens, they are preparing to execute a black man named Lawrence Musgrove, played by Sean Combs. Sonny has grown up with racism all around him. When you live with a grandfather and a father that have racist tendencies, it is hard to grow up and become anything but a racist. But Sonny doesn't end up like his elders and regularly plays with the younger black children that live down the way and even tries to show humanity Musgrove as he is living his last night before his execution.

Sonny has a hard time with the execution and messes up protocol and is degraded, berated and chastised by his father in front of the other prison guards. His father thinks of him as a disgrace and once he finishes his diatribe at the prison, he continues it at his home. Perhaps being pushed one to many times, Sonny is prepared for his father's assault at home and this time he turns the tables and ultimately gives his father something that he will never forget. If this is the path the film stayed with and chose to focus on, I feel it would have been much better. To give Hank his awakening through Sonny alone would have been a little more intriguing than what transpires in the next segment of the film.

Halle Berry plays Luticia Musgrove, the wife of Lawrence. She comes to visit her husband in jail only for the benefit of her overweight child. Once the man is executed, she holds no love lost for the man that probably gave her years of truculent days and tumultuous nights. From here, Luticia and Hank somehow manage to find each other and through these two characters we have the recrudescence of Hank. He sees things in a different light after meeting her and at the end all is well that ends well.

The key to this film is the performances. Although I think the film is adequate, if not spectacular, the performances by the two leads are what makes the film as intriguing as it is. Billy Bob Thorton has proven himself to be one of the best actors working today. He will probably get an Oscar nod for either this film or for his work in The Man Who Wasn't There. He perhaps should get a nod for both. He is that good. He has a smooth presentation and understanding of who he's portraying in the film and there is not one second in the film when I didn't think the man I was watching wasn't Hank Growtowski. Thorton plays the role to perfection. Berry on the other hand is equally as impressive as the scurrilous and destitude Luticia. This is a woman that exudes desperation. She can't keep a job, she is losing her house, her ex husband has been executed and her son is eating himself to death. She seems to be in an eternal down spiral, and anyone who has ever been through a rough time will certainly relate to her character. When things go bad, they often seem as though they are never going to improve. Berry makes you empathize with this character. A perfect scene is when she gives a customer a bill for $3.94 and he gives her $4.00 and then vapidly tells her to keep the change. This is a woman that hated her job before at a busy diner where she probably got a paultry two or three dollars for a tip and now she has sunk to the bottom of the barrel and has to thank a customer for giving her eight cents. As they say, you have to sink to bottom before you can start your ascent.

Monster's Ball is the kind of film that won't be given a wealth of recognition, and although it is a good film, I found it to be uneven. There were times when I was rivetted and completely interested in the story and there times when I was debating on whether or not I should duck out and go see Mothman Prophecies ( best film of 2002, and will be hands down when the year ends ) for the fourth time. There is a story worth telling here but at times it just stops being entertaining and it borders on lifelessness. I enjoyed watching the relationship with Sonny and his father and I also enjoyed Luticia's struggles but there were areas such as the conflict with Hank and his dad and some of the metaphors in the film that just seemed tired and old. I mean how many times can you tell the story of racism before you say to yourself that you have seen it all before?

Monster's Ball is not a bad film, in fact, there are probably more positive qualities about it than there are negative but to be labelled as the best film of the year is a farce. What it boils down to a racist white guy becomes a non racist white guy after he rolls in the hay with a beautiful black girl. That is really the gist of it.

I would like to see Thorton and Berry get some recognition at the Oscar's and even Heath Ledger should get a nod for best supporting actor. But in the end, you have to realize that when films like this generally get ignored by the public, it is because we know more than critics think we do. There is a reason why films like Armageddon, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park and Rambo make oodles of money and why films like Affliction and Monster's Ball struggle to find an audience on video. To say this is the best film of the year isn't really that much of a stretch seeing what was released this year was generally average at best. But to ignore films like Lord of the Rings and Vanilla Sky is asinine and unfair. You can't always say that just because a film has a budget nearing the 100 million dollar mark that it has to be worse than a film with nearly 10 times less the cost. Monster's Ball is okay, just don't expect it to connect with you the way others have praised.

6 out of 10