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The Grotowski's are a family of three white men, all of whom are or have been prison guards, who find that their home life is as full of hate for each other as for the black population which surrounds them. Father Hank and son Sonny (Billy Bob Thornton and Heath Ledger), still on active duty, spend a last night with a death row prisoner. His wife (Halle Berry) attempts to get on with her son's and her own life after the execution but finds her poverty and alcoholism will not shield her from an even more traumatic turn of events.
The first half of Monster's Ball contains such a plethora of deaths (accidental, murders, suicides and executions abound) that you'd expect Mulder and Scully to turn up to investigate. Then the second half settles down to let the survivors pick up the pieces and there are some fantastic moments, real juicy actor scenes. They are perfectly performed, mostly underplayed and convincingly so. If only the aggressive, kill crazy first hour had not left you so numb, feeling manipulated and unbalanced, you'd say the second hour made up for kinetic carnage of the first. No film can recover from such a soap operatic culling that so blatantly exposes the director and writer's wish to shock and pummel you into submission. This desire to break taboos with the blood of the cast leads the audience to a place where they know what is coming, and it's going to be nasty.
Oscar winning melodrama that does little but offer actors the chance to stretch their ranges, does even less for me. Monster's Ball is a golden opportunity for Billy Bob Thorton and Halle Berry to prove what wonderful actors they are. And yes, they are very good but apart from seeing both of their subtleties and pyrotechnics as physical storytellers, Monster's Ball skirts around satisfying you in any other way. It deals with race, poverty, the death penalty and paternal disgust yet never once seems to proffer argument or insight into these issues let alone come to any conclusion. A film does not have to explore every level of an issue it raises, nor should there be the need to simplify these social problems with pat moral answers. Monster's Ball on the other hand merely deals them out on the table then never plays them to win. All these controversial and fertile paths opened and not one more than cursorily glanced down. The state-sanctioned killing of criminals is presented, as being horrific but everyone seems casually resigned to the fact that it will happen. Racism seems to be ingrained by family environment. Yet Sonny's and Hank's hatred and fear of the black population seem to have been diluted with each generation following Buck Grotowski's (Peter Boyle) uncompromising old xenophobe, judging by their interactions and development with black people. Is director Marc Foster suggesting that racism is an out of date problem soon to be phased out by reproduction? As nice as Sonny is to the local kids and death row prisoner, one still cannot see much opportunity for him to have made up his own mind in such a domineeringly racist home environment. Perhaps his liberal nature is merely his way of rebelling against his family's values? Now that is an interesting interpretation of what occurs, but there is little to confirm or deny it within the film. Marc Foster has constructed a character piece, an issue film, which cares little for characters or issues. He merely wants to bounce them from one flipper to the next like little metallic ball bearings.
Which is not to say that for all his mistakes Foster does not show potential. He clearly encourages good work from his actors. Berry gives a career best, Thornton cements that reputation, Ledger and Sean "Puffy" Combs prove that there is more there than pretty faces. There is also some effective, if kind of obvious, parallels drawn visually between characters. The cleaning of upholstery, visits by a certain prostitute and buying of presents are all given a nice, neat symbolism. Next time Foster might trust his actors and audience more than he does the action in his material. Then who knows what he'll achieve.
Reviewed by Bob Carroll
Reader comments about Monster's Ball
Ross Anderson (jraatjbc@aol.com) writes:
Your opinion of Monster's Ball pretty much agreed with my own. As compelling as the characters and their situations were, the whole thing struck me as a series of acting exercises rather than a legitamate narrative. Hank's change of heart and Letitia's moment of awareness came about too conveniently for my tastes. But considering what they'd been through, I guess they had a break coming. Good job. -R-
Antony (hongkongphooey_@hotmail.com) writes:
HELP, is it over yet?!!
Monster's Ball has to be the worst movie since "The Postman". SLOW is an understatement, frustratingly slow. Long pauses in dialogue dragged this movie out to the bitter end. Awful editing in some parts (one second this guy is “entertaining” Halle Berry the next he is face to face with her – huh!?) and I was forever playing with the volume so I could hear the few words that were spoken.
The story was disjointed and farcical as it desperately tried to bring these two oddball characters together.
The characters just didn’t work – A Father who “hates his son” and can’t wait to “hear the soil hitting his coffin” would not be so traumatised as a result of his death as to change his whole outlook on life, what triggered this sudden change?
I wish I could say that the story unfolded but it was so inevitable/predictable I was almost willing the credits to appear. Do not waste, as I did, your money on buying/renting this steaming pile of dung.
Joaquin in Vigo (Email address withheld) writes:
A rather disgusting excuse for a movie.
I admit, that was a rather harsh comment. But I also stick to my guns and will declare that it was not undeserved.
The film lacked narrative cohesion (let's say it was a wee bit jumpy) that it did not compensate for with innovation. Instead there was a prominent air of predictablity that hung around the movie like flies around a junkyard.
There was little acting, but much overacting and underacting. Another tremendous blunder was a lack of character depth so great that the entire artistic effort seemed emtpy. See the aforementioned comments. Better yet I will repeat: Nothing made up for these shortcomings. Not even Halle's pretty little body.
So there's this guy. And he hates black people. But wait! Then he changes! Isn't that amazing? He gets laid too!
That's Hollywood........
Ben Overtin (Email address withheld) writes:
This movie is very good. Just to see Halle Berry and, to a lesser extent, Thorton trying to get over their mutual pain and try to "feel good" makes it all worth it.
Paulo Rodriguez (Email address withheld) writes:
Outstanding film. The director clearly knew what he was doing. While some might not have the patience or courage to sit through this movie, you must, at the very least, respect Foster for taking his time and letting things happen on their own. Most of all, it must be said that Foster does what few other so-called "directors" do: he tells his story visually. Bless him for using the medium properly. He doesn't merely tell us what is going on, he shows it and he does it beautifully. Along the same lines, I have to add that the editing blew me away. The sequence of Hank eating icecream in his car while crossing the river on the ferry was so unexpected and thoughtful for a mainstream "American" release that I have to wonder how Foster was able to sneak that one past the producers.
The film is clearly influenced by a more European sensibility. If you like film, if you know film, you will understand that is not a bad thing.
PR
Antonio Ponti (Email address withheld) writes:
There are better and there are worse, Monster's Ball is above all of them. What courage it took for the screenwriter and director to create such an incredible ride along hells highway to finally drop them off safely in each other arms. She deserves the Academy award for such an unbelievable performance. From top to bottom, I can’t find a thing wrong with it.
zero g (Email address withheld) writes:
Monster's Ball was a monster piece of crap!This is like the third time i said this, but i don't care. Just somethimg about this movie i did'nt like,not that the racsism was'nt bad enough but hell that's reality.I just can't believe that Halle Berry got an oscar for this crap.This movie was'nt that good.Seeing this movie once was enough for me.Heath Ledger is A-list material though,your looking at the next Mel Gibson.
DiogenesLaertus (blogger.com) writes:
Thornton once again displayed his genius overshadowing the good (but not Oscar level) performance of Halle Berry. Thornton brings to life the ordinary Southernor, neither racist nor egalitarian, who gets along with Blacks but really doesn't think about race relations much. He also captures the soul of "Bubba."
One of the best movies of the year.
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