Review of Monster's Ball (2001) by Greek-God — 08 Jan 2018

Monster's Ball wasn't made with a big budget by some very well known director. And to make things "worse", it's controversial as well because the story isn't exactly about a family living together happy with more money than there is water in the sea. And they weren't afraid to put a lot of racism in it, which was necessary to make this movie believable, but for some "politically correct" people, already reasons enough to say they didn't like it.

The movie tells us the story of Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), a racist white prison guard who works on Death Row and Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry), a black woman whose husband is about to be executed. Hank lives with his father and his son, who he really hates, under the same roof. But when a tragedy takes his son away, he starts thinking about his ideas. In the mean while he has met Leticia, not knowing who she really is and soon they fall in love with each other. This is the start of a relationship based rather on desperation than on love.

Monster's ball doesn't use cheap Hollywood sentiment like you might expect from this kind of movies, but is sincere and very compelling. This is of course also thanks to excellent performances. Halle Berry got an Oscar for it, but what I don't understand is why Billy Bob Thornton wasn't even nominated. His character may not be as likable and no he isn't as good looking as Berry, but his performance certainly wasn't any less. In fact, the entire movie was more than just worth a watch. It's very nice to see that there still are unknown directors who can make good movies with a good story, some fine actors and a small budget. I really enjoyed it and that's why I give it an 8/10.