Amazon.co.uk Review
A harrowing portrayal of Deep South life in the 21st century, Monster's Ball hits you where it hurts most, in the complex realm of extreme human emotions. This is not a movie to pass the time on a Sunday afternoon. With intriguing juxtapositions and some of the best editing of recent times it has all the makings of a modern film noir, yet it's not only the men that end up on the wrong side of the track: pride and ill-fortune are the real femme fatales here.
Billy Bob Thornton is a death row officer whose redneck father has taught him that emotions make you weak, leading to an inability to love his son (Heath Ledger) and feel any compassion for the convicts in his care. When he loses a "loved one", he embarks on a relationship with the widow (Halle Berry) of a man whom he strapped in the electric chair, and the two of them search for comfort in sex, alcohol and chocolate ice-cream. The movie features fine turns from all actors involved, with Berry deservedly winning an Oscar for best actress and Ledger proving he is more than eye candy. Far from concluding the suffering, the ending leaves the viewer in an emotional void in which you will find yourself analysing your own shortcomings, prejudices and emotional ties. --Nikki Disney
Customer Reviews:
Its ok.......2007-08-22
Presents a case against execution and 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 overall pretty good.
4/5
Keith
well intentioned but stereotyped.......2005-10-17
This is, on the whole, a well acted, good intentioned and uplifting film. However, it some ways it is just another stereotypical Hollywood style love story of which we have seen so many. Halle Berry's character is hapless, poor and a victim of circumstances whilst Billy Bob's character is rich, in control of putting his father in a home and was actually the cause of the death of his son - it all seems a bit too male = active whilst female = passive in a very stereotypical Hollywood fashion. The fact that she is Black and 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 actually 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.......2005-09-19
"The Monster's Ball" begins with one of the finest opening sequences I have ever seen and really sets the tone for an intelligent, well acted and credible film. The tension and lead up to the main event in the first half of the film is superbly developed and really 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 and his own son, Sonny (Heath Ledger) is following in his footsteps. Hank is in charge of the execution procedure and 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) and we first meet him during his final visit with his ex-wife and their son. Leticia (Halle Berry) his wife is angry and venomous and shows no mercy to her soon to be executed ex-husband. Their son Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun) idolises his wayward father and presents a tragic figure of someone desperate for love and a guiding hand. He receives none of this from his mother who alternately smothers him and berates the poor chap for being a "fat little piggy".
Unfortunately the execution doesn't run smoothly and Hank violently berates Sonny for not performing correctly. In a dramatic and catastrophic sequence Sonny and Hank fight with appalling 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 and puts the two baggage carrying characters together and they start to develop an ever deepening relationship with each other.
The success of the film is in the acting performances and the only surprise is that only Halle Berry won an Oscar here. She puts in a performance of great depth and feeling and her raw passion and 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 and Heath Ledger.
Some have questioned the composition of the film, especially the lengthy sex scene between the two leads. Admittedly this is a lengthy sequence and there's little doubt it could have been cut shorter but it still remains a powerful and 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 and Hank's racist and bigoted father or the tear jerking scene in the hospital. The ending also deserves special mention for being believable, credible and not taking the easy Hollywood get out that we all were probably expecting.
Beautiful... and Brilliant.......2005-03-02
Billy Bob Thornton is brilliant. Halle 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 (Halle Berry).
It is a sad story of death and coping with it. The plot is very simple but effective and the direction is smooth and revealling, this film won Halle Berry her Best Actress Oscar in 2001 and she deserved it for her stern and tender performance as Leticia, Billy Bob's love interest, and as they weave within each other the story builds to a climax of sheer brilliance... A Great Film!
Oh.. and I suggest you look out for the extra features... check out the 'lighter note on Billy Bob Thornton' and 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.......2005-03-01
This is a classic film, and I can totally understand why Halle 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, and 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, and even though Leticia has no knowledge of who she is now seeing it makes for intriguing viewing and often leaves you feeling mesmerised. fantastic...
Oh and as for the features, I have to say the 'lighter note on Billy Bob Thornton' is brilliant, especially as he happily brings forward his best character to date, from the 1996 film Sling Blade, it's just great, it must be seen.
Amazon.co.uk Review
A harrowing portrayal of Deep South life in the 21st century, Monster's Ball hits you where it hurts most, in the complex realm of extreme human emotions. This is not a movie to pass the time on a Sunday afternoon. With intriguing juxtapositions and some of the best editing of recent times it has all the makings of a modern film noir, yet it's not only the men that end up on the wrong side of the track: pride and ill-fortune are the real femme fatales here.
Billy Bob Thornton is a death row officer whose redneck father has taught him that emotions make you weak, leading to an inability to love his son (Heath Ledger) and feel any compassion for the convicts in his care. When he loses a "loved one", he embarks on a relationship with the widow (Halle Berry) of a man whom he strapped in the electric chair, and the two of them search for comfort in sex, alcohol and chocolate ice-cream. The movie features fine turns from all actors involved, with Berry deservedly winning an Oscar for best actress and Ledger proving he is more than eye candy. Far from concluding the suffering, the ending leaves the viewer in an emotional void in which you will find yourself analysing your own shortcomings, prejudices and emotional ties. --Nikki Disney
Customer Reviews:
Its ok.......2007-08-22
Presents a case against execution and 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 overall pretty good.
4/5
Keith
well intentioned but stereotyped.......2005-10-17
This is, on the whole, a well acted, good intentioned and uplifting film. However, it some ways it is just another stereotypical Hollywood style love story of which we have seen so many. Halle Berry's character is hapless, poor and a victim of circumstances whilst Billy Bob's character is rich, in control of putting his father in a home and was actually the cause of the death of his son - it all seems a bit too male = active whilst female = passive in a very stereotypical Hollywood fashion. The fact that she is Black and 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 actually 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.......2005-09-19
"The Monster's Ball" begins with one of the finest opening sequences I have ever seen and really sets the tone for an intelligent, well acted and credible film. The tension and lead up to the main event in the first half of the film is superbly developed and really 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 and his own son, Sonny (Heath Ledger) is following in his footsteps. Hank is in charge of the execution procedure and 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) and we first meet him during his final visit with his ex-wife and their son. Leticia (Halle Berry) his wife is angry and venomous and shows no mercy to her soon to be executed ex-husband. Their son Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun) idolises his wayward father and presents a tragic figure of someone desperate for love and a guiding hand. He receives none of this from his mother who alternately smothers him and berates the poor chap for being a "fat little piggy".
Unfortunately the execution doesn't run smoothly and Hank violently berates Sonny for not performing correctly. In a dramatic and catastrophic sequence Sonny and Hank fight with appalling 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 and puts the two baggage carrying characters together and they start to develop an ever deepening relationship with each other.
The success of the film is in the acting performances and the only surprise is that only Halle Berry won an Oscar here. She puts in a performance of great depth and feeling and her raw passion and 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 and Heath Ledger.
Some have questioned the composition of the film, especially the lengthy sex scene between the two leads. Admittedly this is a lengthy sequence and there's little doubt it could have been cut shorter but it still remains a powerful and 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 and Hank's racist and bigoted father or the tear jerking scene in the hospital. The ending also deserves special mention for being believable, credible and not taking the easy Hollywood get out that we all were probably expecting.
Beautiful... and Brilliant.......2005-03-02
Billy Bob Thornton is brilliant. Halle 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 (Halle Berry).
It is a sad story of death and coping with it. The plot is very simple but effective and the direction is smooth and revealling, this film won Halle Berry her Best Actress Oscar in 2001 and she deserved it for her stern and tender performance as Leticia, Billy Bob's love interest, and as they weave within each other the story builds to a climax of sheer brilliance... A Great Film!
Oh.. and I suggest you look out for the extra features... check out the 'lighter note on Billy Bob Thornton' and 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.......2005-03-01
This is a classic film, and I can totally understand why Halle 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, and 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, and even though Leticia has no knowledge of who she is now seeing it makes for intriguing viewing and often leaves you feeling mesmerised. fantastic...
Oh and as for the features, I have to say the 'lighter note on Billy Bob Thornton' is brilliant, especially as he happily brings forward his best character to date, from the 1996 film Sling Blade, it's just great, it must be seen.
Amazon.co.uk Review
A harrowing portrayal of Deep South life in the 21st century, Monster's Ball hits you where it hurts most, in the complex realm of extreme human emotions. This is not a movie to pass the time on a Sunday afternoon. With intriguing juxtapositions and some of the best editing of recent times it has all the makings of a modern film noir, yet it's not only the men that end up on the wrong side of the track: pride and ill-fortune are the real femme fatales here.
Billy Bob Thornton is a death row officer whose redneck father has taught him that emotions make you weak, leading to an inability to love his son (Heath Ledger) and feel any compassion for the convicts in his care. When he loses a "loved one", he embarks on a relationship with the widow (Halle Berry) of a man whom he strapped in the electric chair, and the two of them search for comfort in sex, alcohol and chocolate ice-cream. The movie features fine turns from all actors involved, with Berry deservedly winning an Oscar for best actress and Ledger proving he is more than eye candy. Far from concluding the suffering, the ending leaves the viewer in an emotional void in which you will find yourself analysing your own shortcomings, prejudices and emotional ties. --Nikki Disney
Customer Reviews:
Its ok.......2007-08-22
Presents a case against execution and 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 overall pretty good.
4/5
Keith
well intentioned but stereotyped.......2005-10-17
This is, on the whole, a well acted, good intentioned and uplifting film. However, it some ways it is just another stereotypical Hollywood style love story of which we have seen so many. Halle Berry's character is hapless, poor and a victim of circumstances whilst Billy Bob's character is rich, in control of putting his father in a home and was actually the cause of the death of his son - it all seems a bit too male = active whilst female = passive in a very stereotypical Hollywood fashion. The fact that she is Black and 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 actually 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.......2005-09-19
"The Monster's Ball" begins with one of the finest opening sequences I have ever seen and really sets the tone for an intelligent, well acted and credible film. The tension and lead up to the main event in the first half of the film is superbly developed and really 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 and his own son, Sonny (Heath Ledger) is following in his footsteps. Hank is in charge of the execution procedure and 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) and we first meet him during his final visit with his ex-wife and their son. Leticia (Halle Berry) his wife is angry and venomous and shows no mercy to her soon to be executed ex-husband. Their son Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun) idolises his wayward father and presents a tragic figure of someone desperate for love and a guiding hand. He receives none of this from his mother who alternately smothers him and berates the poor chap for being a "fat little piggy".
Unfortunately the execution doesn't run smoothly and Hank violently berates Sonny for not performing correctly. In a dramatic and catastrophic sequence Sonny and Hank fight with appalling 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 and puts the two baggage carrying characters together and they start to develop an ever deepening relationship with each other.
The success of the film is in the acting performances and the only surprise is that only Halle Berry won an Oscar here. She puts in a performance of great depth and feeling and her raw passion and 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 and Heath Ledger.
Some have questioned the composition of the film, especially the lengthy sex scene between the two leads. Admittedly this is a lengthy sequence and there's little doubt it could have been cut shorter but it still remains a powerful and 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 and Hank's racist and bigoted father or the tear jerking scene in the hospital. The ending also deserves special mention for being believable, credible and not taking the easy Hollywood get out that we all were probably expecting.
Beautiful... and Brilliant.......2005-03-02
Billy Bob Thornton is brilliant. Halle 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 (Halle Berry).
It is a sad story of death and coping with it. The plot is very simple but effective and the direction is smooth and revealling, this film won Halle Berry her Best Actress Oscar in 2001 and she deserved it for her stern and tender performance as Leticia, Billy Bob's love interest, and as they weave within each other the story builds to a climax of sheer brilliance... A Great Film!
Oh.. and I suggest you look out for the extra features... check out the 'lighter note on Billy Bob Thornton' and 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.......2005-03-01
This is a classic film, and I can totally understand why Halle 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, and 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, and even though Leticia has no knowledge of who she is now seeing it makes for intriguing viewing and often leaves you feeling mesmerised. fantastic...
Oh and as for the features, I have to say the 'lighter note on Billy Bob Thornton' is brilliant, especially as he happily brings forward his best character to date, from the 1996 film Sling Blade, it's just great, it must be seen.
UK DVD:
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UK DVD List
UK DVD
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