MONSTER'S BALL
Released: December 26, 2002
Easily the best movie of 2001 (it later received wider distribution in early 2002), "Monster's Ball" is another in a series of risky films released by the pioneering Lion's Gate Films studio. Unaware of their connection, a former prison guard (Billy Bob Thornton) becomes involved with the widow (Halle Berry) of the death row prisoner he executed. Both Thornton and Berry shine in this tense, brutally honest yet hopeful film. Directed by Marc Forster, the story unfolds at a leisurely pace but every frame serves the building up of the plot. Forster carefully avoids dumbing down scenes for the masses or inserting standard Hollywood confrontational scenes just because that's the what the audience expects. No, this is a smarter movie than that. And Forster achieves much in the almost two hour running time. First of all, he has two amazing actors at the emotional centre of the story. Billy Bob Thornton is one of the best actors working in film today. He blew me away in his other 2001 performance in the Coen brother's "The Man Who Wasn't There". This guy may be on his fifth marriage and have a multitude of wacky real life character traits but there are few other actors in his class right now. He's also am excellent writer and director. Just watch his "Sling Blade" for proof. And Halle Berry, who never really had a chance to deliver the acting goods quite so amazingly before this, is remarkable. She apparently tirelessly fought for this role despite the director's doubts. I liked her in movies like "Boomerang", "Losing Isaiah" and "Bulworth" but it's "Monster's Ball" where she clearly demonstrates herself to be one of the best female actors around. Both her and Thornton threw themselves into their roles. And it shows. But they are not alone. The film is populated by a stellar supporting cast made up of Peter Boyle (as Thornton's ultra racist father), Heath Ledger (as Thornton's son), Sean 'Puffy' Combs (as the aforementioned death row prisoner - he really CAN act damn well) and Coronji Calhoun (as Berry's candy-obsessed son). I will not go into plot specifics as you really should go see this and enjoy it unfettered of preconceptions. Thornton's character is the son of a racist. He is a wavering, clearly at ends with his father's world view. His son is the most liberal in the family, and as a co-worker of his father's at the prison he is still pretty much just a kid. The motion of the story, which involves Thornton uniting with Berry without any idea that the pair are directly connected to each other yeilds some genuine scenes. They are both brought together by neccessity of the given situation in an innocent and truthful fashion. One of them becomes aware of the connection without the other knowing - but continues the relationship. How it all comes together, despite a movie where most of the cast ends up getting killed in horrific ways, is entirely genuine and unforced. The same movie - with a different director, actors and studio - would probably have failed miserably. The planets were alligned for "Monster's Ball" and the result is, as I said, the best movie of 2001. And the Oscars didn't nominate it for Best Picture. Shame on them! At least Berry was nominated for Best Actress.
Fun trivia:
The initial cut of the picture included more explicit footage during the sex scene between Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton, which was trimmed down after the MPAA threatened to give the film a NC-17 rating. The uncut version premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on February 8, 2001. The R-rated US theatrical release features the cut version; the version released in Canada is the uncut director's cut.
A "monster's ball" is alluded to in the film as being the "party" given to a death row prisoner on the night before their execution.
111 Minutes
Lion's Gate Films