Review of Monster's Ball (2001) by Jayakrishnan R — 23 Apr 2016
Monster's Ball is the kind of movie that should be full of cliche plot points and familiar tropes, but thankfully, it isn't. Marc Forster's tale of a racist prison guard who ends up falling for a black woman tied to his work is very grounded in reality, and very honest in telling this story.
The plot coincidences might bother some, but the way the film progresses makes them insignificant in terms of the overall product. All three lead performances are excellent. Billy Bob Thornton puts in a lot of effort that allows for his character to have a reasonable and realistic character arc.
It's debatable that Halle Berry deserved to actually win an Oscar for her performance in this, but this is certainly award worthy work from her. Berry does a really good job of handling her character's troubled lifestyle in what is probably one of her better performances.
Heath Ledger is also solid, despite a very limited amount of screen time. Overall, Monster's Ball is a very grounded drama that executes themes of racism in a manner that's never preachy or overly sentimental.
This review of Monster's Ball (2001) was written by Jayakrishnan R on 23 Apr 2016.
Monster's Ball has generally received positive reviews.
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