Truly Dreadful Film

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The movie is basically a f**k you to all the black people out there. It basically portrays a racist white man as a noble hearted gentleman who saves a black women from the rotting life she is stuck in.I don't mind the love story but it doesn't have a basis for it to form in the world,it all just happens because the women is vulnerable and ready to fall into the racist man's arms. I truly wanted to vomit after watching this propagandist bullshit.

Monster's Ball (2001): Dir: Marc Forster / Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Peter Boyle, Sean Combs: Powerful film about racism and redemption. Title regards lifestyle and attitudes of three generations of racial prison guards. Billy Bob Thornton portrays such a guard whose father was an even bigger racist. His son befriends a black inmate on death row and he wretches at the execution. Thornton assaults him in a washroom leading to a shocking sequence where he takes his own life. Halle Berry plays the widow of the inmate whose son is struck by a car. Thornton assists her and is soon drawn in attraction. It isn't known why Thornton helps her but judging from the amount of sex it was probably lust. Unsatisfactory conclusion aided by Marc Foster's directing and top notch acting. Thornton wrestles with his past and upbringing. Berry is flawless as a waitress who is harsh to her overweight son. Heath Ledger plays his son who shows compassion towards those whom he was raised to hate. This puts him in conflict with his family. Peter Boyle is icy as Thornton's crippled and hateful father whose nature is perhaps the darkest element of the film. Sean Combs is effectively in a brief role as a criminal who is executed early on. The film focuses on hopes that society will veer away from the immoral celebration of racism. Score: 8 / 10

Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) is the prison guard in charge of the executions. His son Sonny Grotowski (Heath Ledger) works with him but vomits while escorting Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs) on his final walk. Hank is angry and confronts Sonny. Sonny kills himself. Hank decides to leave the prison and ends up dating Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry) who is the wife of the executed Lawrence. He has to deal with conflicted feelings especially those handed down by his racist father Buck Grotowski (Peter Boyle).This movie is filled with great performances. Even Sean Combs delivers a workable performance. Ledger has a short and tough role. Halle Berry has one scene that is shockingly haunting. Her berating her chubby son is unforgettable. All of it is held together by Billy Bob.

Interracial relationships are often more risqué and bear a greater magnitude because you likely have to go an extra mile to make it work, or have some member of your family overcome assumptions or opposition to the other race so the person can have a healthy without worrying about senseless judgments on their being. It's because of this, and the ridiculous controversy that surrounds such a practice, that, I believe, the amount of interracial relationships in Hollywood are shockingly little and the idea is so frequently underexplored that, if it were just given a bit more exposure, could free us from the shackles bestowed upon us by lame and incredulous romance dramas. With the right marketing, proper writing, and strong acting, a film about interracial relationships could be defining for a large, underserved demographic.Marc Forster's Monster's Ball is an efficient and substantial film concerning interracial relationships and how grief can transcend even the biggest boundaries in our lives, especially those built by our own parents and relatives. It concerns Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), a quietly racist widower who works with his son Sonny (Heath Ledger) in a corrections office and takes care of his ailing, openly racist father (Peter Boyle). Hank often oversees executions that occur in his corrections department, and often doesn't appreciate the hard work and dependency of his son, criticizing him that he's too soft and too weak-hearted to handle his job. After a confrontation at their home, Sonny proceeds to kill himself right in front of his father. Hank moves on with his life by burying Sonny in the backyard and quitting his job at the corrections office.Early in the film we also find ourselves meeting Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry), a woman who has been struggling while raising her overweight, artistic son Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun) while her husband Lawrence (Sean Combs) was in prison and subsequently executed by Hank. Hank sees Leticia in a local diner quite frequently, but one day on his travels home, sees Leticia crying while holding Tyrell in her arms after he is struck by a car. Despite prompt efforts by Hank and Leticia, Tyrell dies in the hospital, leaving Leticia distraught and without two of the biggest people in her life.A heartwrenching scene takes place between Leticia and Tyrell early in the film. Leticia has been concerned about Tyrell's weight for a while, and finds that he keeps eating chocolate and not trying to stick to any kind of diet. She is so frustrated about his disobedience that she winds up physically abusing him, forcing him onto a scale and slapping him around repeatedly. The scene is devastating because not only do we know that Leticia is just acting out on momentary stress, but we see that Tyrell, who already seems to have very few friends and opportunities to exercise his artistic passion, is simply confined to physical abuse and upsetting, emotionally scarring treatment. One wonders if the real life story of Calhoun was similar to the one he conveys on screen (I say "was" because Calhoun was listed as "missing" following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and there have been no subsequent reports of him being found, leading me to believe he's missing and presumed dead as of 2014).It almost goes without saying that the performances are spectacular all across the board, from two low-key, beautifully nuanced performances by Thornton and Berry to a wonderfully tender and often saddening performance by Calhoun. And together, they make the somber and often tonally-rich screenplay of Milo Addica and Will Rokos work, by carefully constructing the right scenes and never overplaying others for emotional manipulation. Both Addica and Rokos do a beautiful job at showing how in a time of grave uncertainty and untold sadness that even two people with nothing remotely in common, bearing two separate views on life, can come together and miraculously find solace in each other - even the way the film handles sex is in a deeply human, respectful way. Monster's Ball shows that without overplaying its core emotions nor turning into a pile of cliché-ridden drivel; it's a carefully-crafted, somber film concerning heavy topics explored in a mannered way.Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Coronji Calhoun, Peter Boyle, and Sean Combs. Directed by: Marc Forster.