Review of Monster's Ball (2001) by Byron B — 07 Mar 2013

One part of this story concerns three generations of death row prison guards: retired Buck Grotowski (Boyle), Hank Grotowski (Thornton), and trainee Sonny Grotowski (Ledger). Hank takes after his racist and verbally abusive father, leading to Sonny's death.

One of the major things that bothered me about Hank's character arch is how quickly he changes. It is redemptive to see him change his life, but I just thought it happened a little abruptly. The other part of the story concerns the Musgrove family.

Lawrence (Sean Combs) has been in prison for a decade and is finally faced with his execution date. His son, Tyrell (Calhoun), and old girlfriend, Leticia (Berry), continue to struggle to get by after Lawrence is gone.

Hank and Leticia bond because of the grief with which they are both dealing. Despite Leticia drunkenly coming on quite strong to Hank in a moment of extreme vulnerability and Hank not coming clean about the guilt that may be the main cause of his gifts to her, the ending suggests a hopeful new chapter with mutual healing for them both.