Monster's Ball

Genre: psychological drama
Director: Marc Forster
Release: 2001
Studio: Lee Daniels Entertainment, Lionsgate – Lionsgate
Rating: R
MBiS score: 8.2/10


The Widow and the Widow-maker


While Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs) spends his last days on death row at Jackson Penitentiary, his wife Leticia (Halle Berry) and their son Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun) are understandably devastated and uncertain about the future. In an unusual way, Lawrence’s fate will also change the lives of Hank (Billy Bob Thornton) and Sonny (Heath Ledger) Grotowski, a father and son team of prison guards assigned to escort him to his execution. With Peter Boyle (Buck Grotowski, Hank’s father, himself a former prison guard).

Although Albert Camus once wrote ‘It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners’, MONSTER’S BALL focuses as much on enforcers of the death penalty as on a woman and a son indirectly subjected to it. In this sense, Marc Forster’s work speaks of issues not covered by DEAD MAN WALKING and other prison films but, like them, it is patently grim, achingly raw and psychologically demanding, especially at first. Eventually, it gains in humanity in the aftermath of Lawrence’s execution as it allows its characters to experience disillusion and want, reflect on the tribulations of life and move a step or two forward on the road to rebirth. Judging from reviews I had read beforehand, I had a distinct feeling that this movie would be heavy-handed and implausible but, thanks to a masterful screenplay by Milo Addica and Will Rokos, it unfolds in a logical and considered way. As you will discover, MONSTER’S BALL tackles violence, capital punishment and ingrained racism head-on and succeeds unequivocally because of its complete candidness.

Of course, a feature such as this would not have carried without a strong cast and superior acting. Halle Berry earned her Oscar nod as a woman faced with a brutal future and Billy Bob Thornton provided her with solid support; one special scene between them will take your breath away (you’ll know which one). Production values are irreproachable. The story here was paramount and nothing was done to compromise it.

Honestly, I have little else to add about MONSTER’S BALL, a film that deserves recognition for its seriousness and fine craftsmanship. As it demonstrates with gut-wrenching eloquence, there are neither easy answers nor pat solutions in life but there is hope, even if it seems scant or fragile.


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