Review of Monster's Ball (2001) by Andrew M — 25 Sep 2010

A strong character-driven drama, with a lot of atmosphere. It doesn't really say much about racism and social issues, but it does drive a compelling story with very compelling and sympathetic characters, and the excellent dialog and superb acting make it work very well.

A lot have been said about the strong emotional acting of both Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton, but for me, it's the much smaller roles played to excellence by Heath Ledger and Peter Boyle that overshadow the leads and steal the show whenever one of them is on screen.