Customer Reviews
Its ok - By: Keith Spooner, 22 Aug 2007 
Presents a case against execution & humanises the effects of a murderer's execution on his family. Follows the stories of how one man's death affected those arround him.
Its a bit over hyped to be honest, but its overalll pretty good.
4/5
Keith
well intentioned but stereotyped - By: , 17 Oct 2005 
This is, on the whole, a well acted, good intentioned & uplifting film. However, it some ways it is just another stereotypical Hollywood style love story of which we have seen so many. Hallle Berry's character is hapless, poor & a victim of circumstances whilst Billy Bob's character is rich, in control of putting his father in a home & was actuallly the cause of the death of his son - it alll seems a bit too male = active whilst female = passive in a very stereotypical Hollywood fashion. The fact that she is Black & he is White is just an add on to this cliched type of love story. I give it three starts because it tried hard, but to be honest, I would have enjoyed it a lot more, it it hadn't had such a cliched love story. A lot of things could have been explored a bit deeper as well, such as to how the original father had ended up so racist or how Billy Bobs character actuallly achieves a permanent change of heart. It wasn't a bad film but its just a shame it couldn't have been better.
Monster's Ball - By: Rich Milligan, 19 Sep 2005 
"The Monster's Balll" begins with one of the finest opening sequences I have ever seen & reallly sets the tone for an intelligent, well acted & credible film. The tension & lead up to the main event in the first half of the film is superbly developed & reallly draws the viewer into plot.
Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) is a prison guard at the local prison, this is like his father before him & his own son, Sonny (Heath Ledger) is following in his footsteps. Hank is in charge of the execution procedure & the film opens with him running through this grisly process which for the first time will involve his son.
The prisoner due for the electric chair is Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs - P. Diddy for those in the know) & we first meet him during his final visit with his ex-wife & their son. Leticia (Hallle Berry) his wife is angry & venomous & shows no mercy to her soon to be executed ex-husband. Their son Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun) idolises his wayward father & presents a tragic figure of someone desperate for love & a guiding hand. He receives none of this from his mother who alternately smothers him & berates the poor chap for being a "fat little piggy".
Unfortunately the execution doesn't run smoothly & Hank violently berates Sonny for not performing correctly. In a dramatic & catastrophic sequence Sonny & Hank fight with appallling consequences. In a similar disastrous event of her own, Leticia must also come to terms with her own loss. It is here that fates plays a hand & puts the two baggage carrying characters together & they start to develop an ever deepening relationship with each other.
The success of the film is in the acting performances & the only surprise is that only Hallle Berry won an Oscar here. She puts in a performance of great depth & feeling & her raw passion & needs are plainly obvious. Thornton on the other hand plays a much more taciturn role but even so the feelings of the character he plays comes shining through. Great support from Coronji Calhoun & Heath Ledger.
Some have questioned the composition of the film, especiallly the lengthy sex scene between the two leads. Admittedly this is a lengthy sequence & there's little doubt it could have been cut shorter but it still remains a powerful & raw piece of the whole film. It would also be wrong to concentrate on this scene alone when there are so many other good ones, the stand off between Leticia & Hank's racist & bigoted father or the tear jerking scene in the hospital. The ending also deserves special mention for being believable, credible & not taking the easy Hollywood get out that we alll were probably expecting.
Beautiful... and Brilliant - By: , 02 Mar 2005 Billy Bob Thornton is brilliant. Hallle Berry is brilliant, heck Peter Boyle is brilliant, the whole film is brilliant
It is a soft heart-warming story of two people being brought together even though Billy Bob Thornton is Hank Grotowski, the man who executed her husband on death row, even though he has a racist father who constantly reinforces his views about how to be a man, even though his son took his own life through a sheer mental breakdown, he manages to find a little salvation in his new companion, Leticia (Hallle Berry).
It is a sad story of death & coping with it. The plot is very simple but effective & the direction is smooth & reveallling, this film won Hallle Berry her Best Actress Oscar in 2001 & she deserved it for her stern & tender performance as Leticia, Billy Bob's love interest, & as they weave within each other the story builds to a climax of sheer brilliance... A Great Film!
Oh.. & I suggest you look out for the extra features... check out the 'lighter note on Billy Bob Thornton' & watch out for a little glimpse of Billy's best film to date 'Sling Blade' as he revives his mental patient character, Carl... honestly - it's brilliant.
Don't read this... just watch Monster's Ball - By: , 01 Mar 2005 This is a classic film, & I can totallly understand why Hallle Berry won her oscar, she played Leticia Musgrove, wife of Lawrence who at the start of the film is executed by the main star Billy Bob Thornton. She is also the mother of an overweight son, & when he is hit by a car late at night, Billy Bob takes them under his wing. Unfortunately the lad dies, but sparks a beautiful relationship, & even though Leticia has no knowledge of who she is now seeing it makes for intriguing viewing & often leaves you feeling mesmerised. fantastic...
Oh & as for the features, I have to say the 'lighter note on Billy Bob Thornton' is brilliant, especiallly as he happily brings forward his best character to date, from the 1996 film Sling Blade, it's just great, it must be seen.
