Monster's Ball [DVD] [2002]

Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) is a prison guard at the local prison, this is like his father before him and his own son, Sonny (Heath Ledger) is following in his footsteps. Hank is in charge of the execution procedure and the film opens with him running through this grisly process which for the first time will involve his son.

The prisoner due for the electric chair is Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs - P. Diddy for those in the know) and we first meet him during his final visit with his ex-wife and their son. Leticia (Halle Berry) his wife is angry and venomous and shows no mercy to her soon to be executed ex-husband. Their son Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun) idolises his wayward father and presents a tragic figure of someone desperate for love and a guiding hand. He receives none of this from his mother who alternately smothers him and berates the poor chap for being a "fat little piggy".

Unfortunately the execution doesn't run smoothly and Hank violently berates Sonny for not performing correctly. In a dramatic and catastrophic sequence Sonny and Hank fight with appalling consequences. In a similar disastrous event of her own, Leticia must also come to terms with her own loss. It is here that fates plays a hand and puts the two baggage carrying characters together and they start to develop an ever deepening relationship with each other.

The success of the film is in the acting performances and the only surprise is that only Halle Berry won an Oscar here. She puts in a performance of great depth and feeling and her raw passion and needs are plainly obvious. Thornton on the other hand plays a much more taciturn role but even so the feelings of the character he plays comes shining through. Great support from Coronji Calhoun and Heath Ledger.

Some have questioned the composition of the film, especially the lengthy sex scene between the two leads. Admittedly this is a lengthy sequence and there's little doubt it could have been cut shorter but it still remains a powerful and raw piece of the whole film. It would also be wrong to concentrate on this scene alone when there are so many other good ones, the stand off between Leticia and Hank's racist and bigoted father or the tear jerking scene in the hospital. The ending also deserves special mention for being believable, credible and not taking the easy Hollywood get out that we all were probably expecting.

The title, Monster's Ball is explained as being a condemned man's last supper before being executed. The condemned man in this case being Lawrence Musgrove (Sean 'Puff Daddy'/'P Diddy' Combs) an African-American who has been awaiting execution in a Georgia penitentiary for 11 years. Musgrove is married to a long suffering emotionally crushed waittress named Leticia (Halle Berry). Together they share an obese 13 year old son Tyrell who barely knows his father and seeks solace in junk food and candy bars.

Supervising officer on Musgrove's execution squad is one Hank Grotowski (Thornton), a widower and one of three generations of career prison officers. Hank's only child Sonny (Heath Ledger), a sensitive but unloved young man, is also reluctantly on the execution squad. Together they both live with Hank's retired father Buck, a bitter, nasty and brutal rascist physically disabled by the combination of chronic arthritis and emphysema. The wives of both Buck and Hank have committed suicide and all 3 generations of the Grotowski family are trapped in unhappy lives devoid of feeling, emotionally numbed and it is against this backdrop that enormously tragic circumstances conspire to bring Hank and Leticia together in this fragile love story.

As previously mentioned both Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry give stunning performances and contrary to popular opinion Berry's Academy Award was more than justified. Rather than being an act of political correctness it is actually one of the very few occasions where the Academy have actually got things right. Demonstrating a superb range of acting and range of emotions beyond most mere mortals Berry gives a touching and memorable performance as a woman crushed by an unfortunate catalogue of misfortune. Likewise, Thornton (one of American cinemas greatest talents) is captivating as an unloving bigot, bullied by his father and bully to his son, who begins a journey to back to life and emotional and spiritual salvation.

This is a very adult, unsentimental and intelligent drama that doesn't pull its punches. It's not what could be described as entertainment as the first hour of the movie particularly presents an increasingly bleak story of grief, loss and tragedy. However, as an examination of the human condition and our intrinsic need for love this is very powerful and thought provoking stuff, which against all odds ends on a positive note of hope. Uncompromisingly well written and directed, Monster's Ball also features great supporting performances (against type) by the likes of Heath Ledger and a surprisingly sombre Sean Combs. Recommended; 4 stars ****.

The story is American Southern Gothic to the max, playing with grotesque plot devices worthy of Flannery O'Connor and twisted characters that might have stepped out of a Tennessee Williams play. Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) is a correctional officer with the Georgia prison system, where he works with a team that executes prisoners condemned to the electric chair. During the course of his duties, he participates in the execution of Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs)--an execution that, in the most unexpected way imaginable, leads to the violent death of his son (Heath Ledger.) He subsequently becomes acquainted with Lawrence's widow Leticia (Halle Berry), and when she too loses her only son (Coronji Calhoun) to violent death the two embark on a passionate affair fueled by their grief and bitterness.

The film plays with a number of ideas and issues, chief among them racism, but at core it is about the emotional sterility and shallow lives of its characters, and none of them are greatly likable. This is particularly true of the two leads, who are abusive, frustrated, and bitter--until their unexpected affair forces them to evolve in new directions. Even so, their motives remain problematic, and the conclusion of the film offers little in the way of closure.

While the plot relies on several improbable coincidences, director Forster and his actors make the most of it, and the result is a film that is truly painful in its intensity. While Halle Berry's performance has been justly celebrated, it is equaled by Billy Bob Thornton--and the supporting cast is equally remarkable. The cinematography and music is at once understated and extremely memorable, and the film as a whole has a desperate darkness that few others in recent memory have equaled.

This is not a film that a great many people will like, for it creates a brooding quality that is deliberately left unresolved. But it is a haunting film, one that lingers in the mind long after the final credits have rolled. While the DVD is expertly crafted, I found the bonus features--which include various audio tracks, outtakes, and a short on the making of the soundtrack--fairly trivial. Recommended to viewers who appreciate bitter drama at its most intense.

GFT, Amazon Reviwer