Review of Monster's Ball (2001) by Hang O — 17 Jul 2008

This is the kind of movie that is very driven by it's directing and by the actors themselves. It doesn't feel overdone with dialog or needless speeches because it has confidence in it's characters and even more so in it's actors. It's one of those rare movies where you know that everyone playing a part, from smallest to largest took their role seriously and put a piece of themselves into it. Even Sean Combs was decent in this movie, even though he wasn't one of the larger roles (though he did play a central character).

One of the main reasons I wanted to see this movie was for Heath Ledger's performance. I had never really watched a movie that let him show his acting chops and I was not disappointed in the slightest. For his time in the movie you're completely drawn to him. I find that some of the best movies are the ones that have you feel extremely strong emotion towards certain characters. Movies that make you hate certain characters because you almost believe they're real. Movies like American History X. You just want to stand up and yell at the screen or hit someone.

This is a movie about two people who's lives are coming to a crossroads. It's about love, hate and most of all change and endurance. Billy Bob Thorton is a prick, following in his abusive father's footsteps while raising his own son. This isn't your typical spoon fed drama or love story where he meets a troubled girl, falls in love, they fix eachother and blah blah blah. This is a story about two people dealing with all the anger in their lives together. Two people who were always meant to be there for eachother. There isn't a huge climax with a feel good speech or a big tragedy that tugs your heartstrings but that's one of the things the movie does well. The beauty of it is that it never really feels like your conventional drama. It creates it's own pace and has you drawn to these characters, sometimes because you feel sorry for them but mostly because you hate them.

This is the kind of movie you'll want to watch again right after you first see it. You want to catch the subtleties you didn't notice before. You want to analyze these characters who without going on and on about their lives told you more about themselves through the course of the movie than if they actually had. A definite must watch. I didn't really scream oscar for any of the actors in this movie but that's probably because I think everyone truly brought their best performance. If you didn't catch this movie when it first came out, don't miss it now.