Monster's Ball (2001)

A monster's ball is a phrase to describe the dinner a death row inmate gets the night before the execution. This is a sad movie, and will be difficult to watch for some.In the deep south, this is a story of practical romance, profound loss, and systemic racism to make the dilemmas these characters face even more difficult. Both lead characters question their own beliefs and convictions after losing their son.Sometimes, the character's motives are contrived and some scenes could have been shot better. But at the end, the message of this movie is that life can be unforgiving, you have to accept reality and build new opportunities for yourself.

Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) is the prison guard in charge of the executions. His son Sonny Grotowski (Heath Ledger) works with him but vomits while escorting Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs) on his final walk. Hank is angry and confronts Sonny. Sonny kills himself. Hank decides to leave the prison and ends up dating Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry) who is the wife of the executed Lawrence. He has to deal with conflicted feelings especially those handed down by his racist father Buck Grotowski (Peter Boyle).This movie is filled with great performances. Even Sean Combs delivers a workable performance. Ledger has a short and tough role. Halle Berry has one scene that is shockingly haunting. Her berating her chubby son is unforgettable. All of it is held together by Billy Bob.

Interracial relationships are often more risqué and bear a greater magnitude because you likely have to go an extra mile to make it work, or have some member of your family overcome assumptions or opposition to the other race so the person can have a healthy without worrying about senseless judgments on their being. It's because of this, and the ridiculous controversy that surrounds such a practice, that, I believe, the amount of interracial relationships in Hollywood are shockingly little and the idea is so frequently underexplored that, if it were just given a bit more exposure, could free us from the shackles bestowed upon us by lame and incredulous romance dramas. With the right marketing, proper writing, and strong acting, a film about interracial relationships could be defining for a large, underserved demographic.Marc Forster's Monster's Ball is an efficient and substantial film concerning interracial relationships and how grief can transcend even the biggest boundaries in our lives, especially those built by our own parents and relatives. It concerns Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), a quietly racist widower who works with his son Sonny (Heath Ledger) in a corrections office and takes care of his ailing, openly racist father (Peter Boyle). Hank often oversees executions that occur in his corrections department, and often doesn't appreciate the hard work and dependency of his son, criticizing him that he's too soft and too weak-hearted to handle his job. After a confrontation at their home, Sonny proceeds to kill himself right in front of his father. Hank moves on with his life by burying Sonny in the backyard and quitting his job at the corrections office.Early in the film we also find ourselves meeting Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry), a woman who has been struggling while raising her overweight, artistic son Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun) while her husband Lawrence (Sean Combs) was in prison and subsequently executed by Hank. Hank sees Leticia in a local diner quite frequently, but one day on his travels home, sees Leticia crying while holding Tyrell in her arms after he is struck by a car. Despite prompt efforts by Hank and Leticia, Tyrell dies in the hospital, leaving Leticia distraught and without two of the biggest people in her life.A heartwrenching scene takes place between Leticia and Tyrell early in the film. Leticia has been concerned about Tyrell's weight for a while, and finds that he keeps eating chocolate and not trying to stick to any kind of diet. She is so frustrated about his disobedience that she winds up physically abusing him, forcing him onto a scale and slapping him around repeatedly. The scene is devastating because not only do we know that Leticia is just acting out on momentary stress, but we see that Tyrell, who already seems to have very few friends and opportunities to exercise his artistic passion, is simply confined to physical abuse and upsetting, emotionally scarring treatment. One wonders if the real life story of Calhoun was similar to the one he conveys on screen (I say "was" because Calhoun was listed as "missing" following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and there have been no subsequent reports of him being found, leading me to believe he's missing and presumed dead as of 2014).It almost goes without saying that the performances are spectacular all across the board, from two low-key, beautifully nuanced performances by Thornton and Berry to a wonderfully tender and often saddening performance by Calhoun. And together, they make the somber and often tonally-rich screenplay of Milo Addica and Will Rokos work, by carefully constructing the right scenes and never overplaying others for emotional manipulation. Both Addica and Rokos do a beautiful job at showing how in a time of grave uncertainty and untold sadness that even two people with nothing remotely in common, bearing two separate views on life, can come together and miraculously find solace in each other - even the way the film handles sex is in a deeply human, respectful way. Monster's Ball shows that without overplaying its core emotions nor turning into a pile of cliché-ridden drivel; it's a carefully-crafted, somber film concerning heavy topics explored in a mannered way.Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Coronji Calhoun, Peter Boyle, and Sean Combs. Directed by: Marc Forster.

Halle Berry is the most beautiful woman in the world, and a competent actress. Her Oscar for Monster's Ball is probably based more on her looks then her acting ability. Here, she is the widow of an executed murderer, Lawrence Musgrave(Sean Combs). His executioner is Hank Grotowski(Billy Bob Thornton), a racist guard whose father and son are both red necks, who don't think much of black people. Leticia(Berry), struggles as a waitress in a diner; oh yeah, the former runner up in the Miss World contest is waiting tables; give me a break. Guess what happens next? Letecia is walking down a road with her son, Tyrell, and they are struck by a car when Hank just happens by and picks them up and takes them to the hospital. The boy dies, and Halle cries on Billy Bob's shoulder. The silliness continues when they drink together and it leads to a memorable sexual encounter with a very naked Halle Berry; praise the lord. Other then her perfect body, I cannot find a reason to sit through this contrived film. Berry gets a 10 for her nude scene, but the movie is a weak 6/10.