Monster's Ball (2021)

	Directed by: Marc Forster	COUNTRY USA GENRE Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Monster's Ball RUNNING TIME 111 minutes
	Produced by: Lee Daniels
	Written by: Milo Addica Will Rokos

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Hank Grotowski	Billy Bob Thornton
Leticia Musgrove	Halle Berry	½
Sonny Grotowski	Heath Ledger
Buck Grotowski	Peter Boyle
Tyrell Musgrove	Coronji Calhoun	½
Lawrence Musgrove	Sean Combs
Ryrus Cooper	Mos Def

Review

After a somewhat overstated first half, where the message and certain plot devices occasionally become distractions from the film's search for truth and authenticity, Monster's Ball ascends into a beautiful romantic drama in its second half, as Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry come together physically, emotionally, and symbolically for a fine slice of cinematic redemption. Thornton plays a corrections officer in Georgia, a widower raised in a racist household, now caring for his bitter, ageing father (Peter Boyle) and his depressed son (Heath Ledger), with whom he has no real connection. Halle Berry is the wife of a convicted murderer (Sean Combs) and mother of a son with an overeating disorder (Coronji Calhoun), whose life falls apart after losing both of them in quick succession. When chance brings these two people together, they embark on an unlikely but healing relationship.

Monster's Ball was Marc Forster's first big-budget picture, and it displays both his fine talent and some inexperience, particularly in the handling of a couple of underwritten characters and the actors playing them (Ledger, Calhoun, Combs). The turning point is a steaming, tastefully directed sex scene between Thornton and Berry that ignites their relationship and fuses their bond – a scene with more layers than erotic scenes on the big screen usually have. The same can be said of the film's delicate ending. Halle Berry won the Oscar for her powerful performance.