This South is very, very poor -- so poor that it can't even afford extras. Ironically Hank is a prison guard working on Death Row who executed Leticia's husband. A review of the 2001 film Monster's Ball starring Halle Berry, Billy Bob Thornton, Peter Boyle, Heath Ledger and Sean Combs. Monster's Ball is about ending a family curse, about finding a way out of a town that consists entirely of dead ends. It specifically does not tell "their" story, but focuses on two separate lives. The film ends with the two of them eating ice cream together on the back porch, content with each other. Sonny has a brief sexual encounter with a prostitute in a motel then tries to ask her on a dinner date, but she leaves. What a shock to find these two characters freed from the conventions of political correctness, and allowed to be who they are: weak, flawed, needful, with good hearts tested by lifetimes of compromise. She is upset, but is still there waiting for him when he returns from town with ice cream. Set in the Southern United States, 'Monster's Ball' is a tale of a racist white man, Hank, who falls in love with a black woman named Leticia. The movie then is not about overcoming prejudice, but sidestepping it because it comes to seem monstrously irrelevant. We can imagine the scenes of discovery and revelation. Students of screenwriting should study the way the film handles the crucial passages at the end, when she discovers some drawings and understands their meaning. She drinks too much, has been served with an eviction notice, sees herself as a loser. (Those who have not seen the film should skip the following synopsis.) His old man Buck, confined to a wheelchair and a stroller, still exercises an iron will over the family. Lawrence Musgrove, a black man, is about to be executed for a crime that has placed him on death row for nearly twelve years. The film's only flaw is the way Marc Forster allows his camera to linger on Berry's half-clothed beauty; this story is not about sex appeal, and if the camera sees her that way, we are pretty sure that Hank doesn't. A few days later, Hank gives Leticia another ride home from the diner. During the years of Lawrence's imprisonment leading up to his execution, his wife, Leticia, has been struggling while raising their son, Tyrell, who has inherited his father's artistic talent. The night before the execution, Hank tells Sonny that a "monster's ball" is held by the corrections officers, a get-together of those who will participate in the execution. Because she has no alternative? Hank takes Sonny's old truck to Ryrus' auto shop and they discuss fixing it up as Ryrus' daughter Maggie plays nearby, with Hank mentioning he wanted to sell the truck, and asking if Ryrus' boys could wax it. Sonny grabs a revolver from under his pillow and holds his father at gunpoint. Enrich your vocabulary with the English Definition dictionary "[15], On a negative review, Jeffrey Chan of Rescue Fantasy complimented the performances, but was critical of the script, writing, "Unfortunately, too many things bothered me so that I could not buy in to the movie. It is the story of Hank (Academy Award winner, Billy Bob Thornton), 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. There is no side story to paint Lawrence as a victim; "I'm a bad man," he tells Tyrell. Hank Grotowski, a widower, and his son, Sonny, are white corrections officers in a prison in Louisiana. They have a key conversation in which the bodies of both characters are tilted away from each other, as if fearful of being any closer. Monster's Ball premiered at AFI Fest on November 11, 2001 and was theatrically released in the United States on February 8, 2002 by Lionsgate Films. The film went on to earn an Oscar at the 74th Academy Awards in … During the scene, we see close up flashes of a brown- skinned female hand reaching into the cage in an attempt to capture the … Leticia, affected by the remarks, refuses to interact with Hank. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 121 of 143 reviews were positive, giving the film a score of 85% with an average rating of 7.34/10, and was certified "Fresh". They live in a Georgia town, circa 1990; Leticia works the night shift in a diner, has a fat little son and an ex-husband on Death Row; Hank works as a guard on Death Row, has a mean, racist father and a browbeaten son, and will be involved in Leticia's ex-husband's execution. A psychological thriller that deals with philosophical themes, such as the nature of good and evil, as well as the tension between hedonism and nihilism, there's always something to further explore in Naoki Urasawa's magnum opus. She sustains a loss that derails her, and it happens, by coincidence, that Hank is there when he can perform a service. Film locations for Monster's Ball (2001), in Louisiana. Pokemon Ball and Monsters: BackgroundJust a few months ago, many people in the whole world buzzed around playing Pokemon Go. At first, Hank and Leticia do not realize the connection they have through the condemned man. The next morning, Hank attacks Sonny in his bed and orders him to leave the house. In the movie, Berry and her co-star shared a steamy sex scene that has been embedded in … Because she is too tired and this is just one more nail on the cross? The proceedings prove too much for Sonny, who, as he is leading Lawrence to the electric chair, vomits, and then collapses. Monster, whether in its original manga form or Studio Madhouse's anime adaptation, is a critically revered story and a cult classic. Monster's Ball is the story of a poor Southern woman, played by Halle Berry, who falls in love with a prison guard, played by Billy Bob Thornton, after her husband has been executed. He throws two black boys off his property, even though they are friends of his son's. Ending / spoiler for Monster's Ball (2001), plus mistakes, quotes, trivia and more. After Hank is made aware of Buck's actions, he forces his father out of the house and into a nursing home. The film received numerous accolades and nominations, and was nominated twice at the 74th Academy Awards for Best Actress (Berry) and Original Screenplay (Addica and Rokos), with Berry winning for her performance, becoming the first and, as of 2021, the only African-American woman to win the award.[4][5][6]. “Monster’s Ball” (2001) is about a black woman who has an affair with a white man who, unknown to her, was the prison guard who put her husband to death.It stars Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry, who won an Oscar for Best Actress, the first black woman ever.Sean Combs and Mos Def also appear. The site's critical consensus states, "Somber and thought provoking, Monster's Ball has great performances all around. The movie has the complexity of great fiction, and requires our empathy as we interpret the decisions that are made--especially at the end, when the movie avoids an obligatory scene that would have been conventional and forces us to cut straight to the point. But the movie is not about redemption, not about how Hank overcomes his attitudes, but about how they fall away from him like a dead skin because his other feelings are so much more urgent. If I wasn't supposed to see Hank as needing Leticia, then the movie would simply become a demeaning man-saves-woman story. Sonny asks his father if he hates him. monster's ball definition in English dictionary, monster's ball meaning, synonyms, see also 'Gila monster',Frankensteins monster',the green-eyed monster',monstera'. I didn't buy the idea that both Hank and Leticia needed each other -- Leticia needs Hank, but I got the feeling that Hank would've fared just fine (albeit less happily) without Leticia. Ledger drew further praise as a heroin addict… It stars Halle Berry, Billy Bob Thornton, Heath Ledger, and Peter Boyle, with Sean Combs, Mos Def, and Coronji Calhoun in supporting roles. [9] Years of development occurred due to interest from filmmakers ranging from Robert DeNiro to Oliver Stone along with studios that wanted a lighter ending, but the transition to Lee Daniels and Lionsgate led to interest back to the original ending. Hank and Leticia's interracial affair leads to confusion and new ideas for the two unlikely lovers. How this movie handles that disclosure is one of its great strengths; how both characters deal with it (or don't deal with it) internally, so that the movie blessedly proceeds according to exactly who they are, what they need, what they must do, and the choices open to them. Hank, the prison's deputy warden, will oversee the execution of convicted murderer Lawrence Musgrove. But their pain remains separate and so do they; this is not a message movie about interracial relationships, but the specific story of two desperate people whose lives are shaken by violent deaths, and how in the days right after that they turn to each other because there is no place else to turn. It's a two-person show, with [Thornton] turning in another strong performance and [Berry] breaking out and showing her range. to fuck a bitch crazy like billy bob thornton from behind in the manner he drilled halle berry in monster's ball At one point, the production moved to the fields, cellblocks and death houses of Louisiana State Penitentiary for a week to shoot prison interiors and exteriors, with some scenes shot in actual death chambers. There is an overlay of racism in the story; Hank's father Buck (Peter Boyle) is a hateful racist, and Hank mirrors his attitudes. Thornton portrays a corrections officer who begins a relationship with a woman (Berry), unaware that she is the widow of a man (Combs) he executed. It doesn’t even faze him. The Coopers offer condolences to Hank, who asks which one is Willie and which one is "Harry" (mistaking Darryl's name) and is corrected politely. Her response is dictated by the fact that she has nowhere else to turn. Spoilers everywhere…. One rainy night, Leticia (having stolen an umbrella) and Tyrell are walking down a soaked highway. What a shock to find these two characters freed from the conventions of political correctness, and allowed to be who they are: weak, flawed, needful, with good hearts tested by lifetimes of compromise." Flag. "Monster's Ball" is a hard-hitting Southern drama tempered by a story of powerful, life-changing love. All three generations live under his roof, and when Hank's son Sonny (Heath Ledger) opts out of the family sickness, Buck's judgment is cruel: "He was weak." Monster's Ball is a hard-hitting Southern drama tempered by a story of powerful life-changing love. Hank is an abused son and an abusive father. As for myself, as Leticia rejoined Hank in the last shot of the movie, I was thinking about her as deeply and urgently as about any movie character I can remember. The movie cannot say. He purchases a local gas station in an attempt to provide a diversion in his retirement. Outside of that, I make no guarantees -- unless you just really enjoy your share of rescue fantasies"[16], For the professional wrestling match type, see, Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen, American Screenwriters Association Awards, Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, "#OscarsSoWhite and The Legacy of Halle Berry | 8Hours", "Halle Berry's Oscar Win Was One of Her "Biggest Heartbreaks, "Halle Berry Recalls Historic Oscars Win For 'Monster's Ball, "15 Movies That Broke the Mold and Featured Anal Sex Scenes", "FROM SCRIPT TO SCREEN: 'Monster's Ball' - Script Magazine", "A Death Row Tale Finally Gets a Reprieve", https://scriptmag.com/columns/script-screen-monsters-ball, "Monster's Ball movie review & film summary (2002) | Roger Ebert", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monster%27s_Ball&oldid=1021345442, Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award-winning performance, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Online Film & Television Association Awards, Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards, Coronji Calhoun as Tyrell Musgrove (Leticia's son), Charles Cowan Jr. as Willie Cooper, one of Ryrus' sons, Taylor LaGrange as Darryl Cooper, Ryrus' other son (whom Hank thought was named 'Harry'), Clara Infinity Daniels as Maggie Cooper, Ryrus' daughter, This page was last edited on 4 May 2021, at 06:29. 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