Monster's Ball (DVD)

The 2002 Academy Awards will always be remembered for just one thing: Halle Berry’s unforgettable speech after she picked up the award for Best Actress. Well, perhaps the fact that she and Denzel Washington became the first black recipients of Best Actor and Actress in the same year, that was kind of important too. In case you haven’t seen it, she broke down in uncontrollable tears and generally looked quite silly. It was her performance in this film, Monster’s Ball, for which she won the prize. Did she deserve it? Or does the Academy perhaps have a thing for films with the word Monster in the title? The answer is a definite yes. To both. Halle Berry ...  Read the complete review

Present day, American Deep South. Black prisoner Lawrence Musgrove (Sean 'P Diddy' Combs) awaits execution by, among others, prison guards Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) and his son, Sonny (Heath Ledger). Meanwhile, Musgrove's wife, Leticia (Halle Berry), tries in vain to look after herself and her morbidly obese son on her waitress' wages. Leticia's life is a constant struggle against loneliness, her son's condition, poverty, the demands of work and single-motherhood, her dying car and the covert and overt racism that still characterise her part of America. Grotowski's life is equally unappealing. He lives with his ...  Read the complete review

“It is not the colour of my skin, nor the way that I speak that contorts your mind into such pitiful thoughts. It is not your upbringing, nor your breeding that encourages such detestation for the things you don’t understand. The truth lies deeply embedded in your own fear, a fear that makes your hatred burn with a passion that only you can control, yet you let it control you. Don’t pity me, pity yourself, as that’s where the answer to your problems lies.” Angus Reid. 2/06/2002 Monsters Ball encompasses both deep racism and sexual lust, and twists the two into almost two hours of dramatic insight into Southern culture, ...  Read the complete review

Billy Bob Thornton is, for me, the main reason to see “Monster’s Ball”. Forget about Halle Berry – yes, I know she won an Oscar for her role, and she is good, but her acting here certainly wasn’t the best of the year, and, well, Thornton is far better, and it’s his performance that you’re going to remember. The plot centres on his character, as a corrections officer, and he is pivotal to the grandfather/father/son household that the movie is based around. It’s set in the Deep South, in smalltown Georgia, so capital punishment and racial prejudice are presented as common occurances here, it’s part of the ...  Read the complete review

Critically acclaimed when it opened in the US, and praised even more when it came out over here, this was a film I was desperate to see, especially since it featured one of my current favourite actors, Heath Ledger. That was nearly 12 months ago… the reason I’m writing this review so much later is that it’s only now I can reflect on the film without thinking something along the lines of ‘AAAAAAAARGH!!! Gimme my money back you gold-grabbing cinema mercenaries…” I beg your pardon, I got carried away there. However, as you’ve probably guessed from the above comment, the film didn’t exactly live up ...  Read the complete review