Review of Monster's Ball (2001) by Erin C — 09 Sep 2009

While this movie had the chance to be a great kind of dramatic story about people. It just turned out wrong. Ledgers performance wasn't really necessary at all. They just didn't build his character enough for you to really grow attached to him.

Combs was just shy of giving an emotional performance and really also wasn't necessary to the movie. It seems Monster's Ball had alot of subsequent "you should feel bad for the characters, or they are supposed to mean something.

" but, they don't. The movie really swirls around Thorton, Berry, and Boyle. Underneath all of the would be emotional characters the movie does begin to grow on you. It does move forward into something that feels like it could stick and have a very emotional impact towards the end.

My problem is that they failed miserably at the end. They set it up to have one of those emotionally charged endings and they just end it. Once I got to the end I was really disappointed that they didn't try harder to make it one of those endings where there is a conflict that pulls you in.

They just ended it badly. If they had spent slightly more time making you care about the characters who weren't the main focus and a better ending the movie would have been near perfect.