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Monster's Ball (2002)

Billy Bob Thornton , Halle Berry , Marc Forster  |  R |  DVD
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (424 customer reviews)

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Product Details

  • Actors: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Taylor Simpson, Gabrielle Witcher, Heath Ledger
  • Directors: Marc Forster
  • Writers: Milo Addica, Will Rokos
  • Producers: Eric Kopeloff, Lee Daniels, Mark Urman, Michael Burns, Michael Paseornek
  • Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
  • Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
  • Subtitles: English, Spanish
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: R (Restricted)
  • Studio: Lions Gate
  • DVD Release Date: June 11, 2002
  • Run Time: 111 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (424 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00005YU1M
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,467 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • Learn more about "Monster's Ball" on IMDb

Special Features

  • Audio commentary by director Marc Forster & director of photography Roberto Schaefer
  • Audio commentary by Halle Berry & Billy Bob Thornton and director Marc Forster
  • Deleted Scenes & Outtakes
  • "Making of the Music" featurette

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The unflinching realism and searing performances of Monster's Ball are stunning in all the connotations of the word. Hank (Billy Bob Thornton) and Leticia (Halle Berry) inhabit stark, queasy realities of the contemporary South, he as a death row corrections officer and she as the soon-to-be widow of an inmate (Sean Combs) whose execution Hank helps conduct. In the aftermath of the execution, both lose their children to tragic deaths and they form an unlikely bond. In the hands of lesser participants, the fateful plot might strain credibility and seem tailored to allow for liberal sermonizing about the obvious wrongs of our legal justice system, but director Marc Forster and cinematographer Roberto Schaefer balance the contentious nature of the film's issues--the death penalty, racism both overt and subtle, interracial couples--with a flawless attention to character and visual detail that completely convinces. The moral ambiguity of both central characters is given full voice as our sympathy is drawn out reluctantly at first but all the more resolutely in the end. Thornton draws from seemingly limitless resources to deliver yet another outstanding performance, but it is Halle Berry who is a revelation as she sustains throughout the complex tenor of brutality witnessed and raw courage defined. --Fionn Meade

Product Description

A hard-hitting Southern drama tempered by a story of powerful, life-changing love. Hank (Academy Award Winner - Billy Bob Thornton) is an embittered prison guard working on Death Row who begins an unlikely, but emotionally charged affair with Leticia (Academy Award Winner Halle Berry), the wife of a man under his watch on The Row.

Customer Reviews

I did not watch the entire movie. Betty Boop  |  60 reviewers made a similar statement
This film touches upon raw human emotion coupled with real issues we still face today. Damian Gunn  |  51 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
128 of 143 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Lives of desperation converge on the raw edge January 5, 2002
Billy Bob Thornton already has a fine movie to his credit for the 2001 film season, THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE. He stars in MONSTER'S BALL, a film that may possibly vie with IN THE BEDROOM for multiple Oscars.

Here, Thornton plays Hank Grotowski, a senior corrections officer at a prison ostensibly placed in Georgia. Hank supervises a team of officers, which includes his son Sonny (Heath Ledger), and which is assigned to carry out the electric chair execution of a black convict. (Incidentally, a "monster's ball" is defined as the party thrown for a prison guard before he attends at his first execution.) Living with Hank at home is his aging, physically debilitated and venomously racist father, Buck (Peter Boyle), formerly a prison guard also.

The wife of the man to be executed is Leticia, played by Halle Berry. She's gamely trying to pay the rent and keep the car running by working as a waitress, and is raising an overweight son whom she sharply disciplines in an attempt to get him to stop eating everything in sight. (Leticia is convinced that fat, black men don't have a chance in America.)

Both Hank and Leticia are leading separate lives of quiet - and sometimes not so quiet - desperation, each being psychologically and emotionally dragged under by circumstances and taxing personal relationships. Then, in a series of traumatic events over a short period of time, each is cut free of burdens and left, through serendipitous accident, with only each other.

MONSTER'S BALL contains several volatile scenes of emotions on the rawest of edges, and which will keep the viewer riveted. Thornton and Berry both give exemplary performances as two people in unlikely company coming to grip with personal demons. As fair warning to the sensitive, the film incorporates episodes of intense sexuality.

Thornton has become one of my favorite actors, and this is the first time I've seen Berry in any role. I liked this movie very much, and would be hard pressed to choose between it and IN THE BEDROOM for this year's Best Picture Academy Award.

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31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
When I first heard the basic plot of MONSTER'S BALL, I was very intrigued, but skeptical. Watching the movie, I dreaded throughout that the filmmaker's were going to play things out in an obvious and predictable way. How refreshing it was to discover that they didn't.

Instead, I saw a tight, economical script with an amazing performance by Halle Berry. Undoubtedly, people will nit-pick about Berry's work in the film, but beat by beat, her Leticia was one of the most physically and emotionally challenging roles of the year. For the most part, she was up to the task and clearly demonstrated that she's a serious actress. One can debate whether or not she deserved an Oscar for her work, but she definitely gave an Oscar calibre performance.

Billy Bob Thornton was also deserving of an Academy Award nomination (although he didn't receive one) for his complex role as Hank. He played it honestly and fearlessly.

Also of note was Mos Def's performance in the film. It was finely shaded and understated. He's definitely an actor to watch.

However, despite these and other fine performanes in the film (Peter Boyle is another example), what really impressed me about this film was its script. All too often, writers seem compelled to explain every detail about a character, so that the audience "gets it." Fortunately, with MONSTER'S BALL, the writers assume that the audience has some level of intelligence.

In this film, one gets more with just a look on a character's face than would be accomplished in ten pages of expositional dialog. The screenplay deservedly was nominated for both an Oscar as well as an Independent Spirit Award.

Another thing that was refreshing about this film was that it didn't shy away from its controversial subject matter. It deals with issues of class, race, sexuality and relationships with an honesty that most filmmakers shy away from today. This of course will not sit well with the easily offended or those that refuse to believe that racism still exists in America. Given the casting of Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton in the key roles, some may not accept that the characters they played could get together romantically. Like it or not, relationships like this can and do exist and will continue to do so. If you get anything out of the film, it should be that relationships in general are spontaneous, unpredictable and often defy logic.

Overall, MONSTER'S BALL is a challenging film that is often difficult to watch (and not always for the obvious reasons). If you're looking for a film that forces one to confront what we fear in ourselves, this one is it.

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34 of 37 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Who Was The Hooker? May 16, 2002
Format:DVD
I have no quibbles whatsoever about this film, it's characters, acting, content, realism or any of the other silly little comments that everyone else is making. I'm a man, from the South so there's a little bit of Hank in me. I'm also a diagnosed manic depressive, so I understand Letitia's emotional hurt and explosive outbursts (sexual or otherwise) I'm also Black, so understanding and having sympathy for the Black characters and relating to it's racial issues was no stretch for me, I just want to know who is the Blonde Goddess playing the detached hooker in the hotel? When Hank tells her after an attempted tryst to "just keep that money" her reply of "I'm gon' to" just cracked me up! Don't make this movie more than it is people, it's a brilliant character study that reveals not only what can, but often DOES happen in real life when unusual circumstances bring people together. P. S. Halle Berry is volcanic, she deserved that Oscar.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Monster's Ball
I just watched this movie yesterday, and although I do feel it was a good movie, it is a tough look into the southern culture. Read more
Published 5 days ago by CDP
5.0 out of 5 stars Buy now
This movie is excellent movie enjoy but you need a strong stomic to watch so be a wear of the movie it is very sexuality not for kids at all do not bring kids only adults you need... Read more
Published 13 days ago by yechiel
5.0 out of 5 stars Old Time Movie
I had watched this movie man years ago. It has some some places you would not want young children to view.Would buy from seller again.
Published 18 days ago by shack
4.0 out of 5 stars Monsters Ball
This movie is NOT a classic movie like "gone With The Wind" ...but it does contain some excellent acting and it does look real life ...unblinkingly ... Read more
Published 20 days ago by Tim In Arizona
2.0 out of 5 stars Junk!
I can't believe Halle Berry won an Oscar for this. Actually, I can't believe she accepted the role! Now I understand why Angela Bassett turned it down.... what a classy lady. Read more
Published 24 days ago by NFCJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible Performance
I have to say that this is the most gut wrenching, heart tugging performance that I have ever scene from Halle Berry. I really don't know how she did it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mark Belgen
5.0 out of 5 stars great
this is a great movie I love it so muck going on but it tells of all kinds of different situations and then what happens in the end leave you wanting more
Published 1 month ago by trishy
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Story
Brings up the theme of the humanistic need for love. Makes you think. Halle and Thorton were great together. Unexpected!
Published 2 months ago by Shanice Ridley
5.0 out of 5 stars ball of a time
so sexy yet serious matter i love it and to buy for my own personal library for ate nite or trade
Published 2 months ago by cathy cox
5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Good
If you enjoy Southern Gothic in print or film, this is a great movie to see. All the acting is first rate.
Published 2 months ago by Henry Evans
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