← Back to Reviews
in
Monster's Ball (2001)
Halle Berry won a Best Actress Oscar for her role in this somber drama. I've only seen two of the nominees in the same category that year, Renée Zellweger and Nicole Kidman for Bridget Jones's Diary and Moulin Rouge! respectively, but I preferred Berry's performance in this. I don't know how much it drained her to act this out, but it drained me to watch, the emotion was so deep in this film. In the movie, Billy Bob Thornton plays a racist prison guard who works on Death Row, and Heath Ledger is his sensitive son who has started to work with his father. But it proves to be too much for Ledger and Thornton rides, beats, and berates his son mercilessly, leading to a bad result. Berry's husband is on Death Row and is played by Sean "Puffy" Combs, the rapper/actor, who does a good job in the short screen time he has. Berry is left to care for their preteen, overweight son who, like Thornton's son is also very sensitive and Berry treats him roughly as well. Things do not go well for her and her son either. After her husband is executed, she goes through a lot of rough times, including the threat of eviction from her house and a car on the fritz, and having to walk to work.
Although Berry and Thornton's paths almost meet at the prison, they actually meet when she is at the moment of her greatest need. Soon he finds a new purpose in life, and the two of them begin to find romance with each other despite his previous prejudice, and the interference of his bigoted father, played as a hardened, pathetic scum by the late, excellent Peter Boyle. It's hard to think of him as the same man who played the creature in Young Frankenstein, so good is his acting. Thornton's role was the best for me, because he is the person who really has to turn his life around and he applies himself to the task as hard as any person can, even making a huge familial sacrifice. I think he should have been nominated as well for an Oscar but there were a lot of heavy-hitters that year that hurt his chances. I think he's vastly underrated as an actor, with his naturalistic, "every man" type of roles maybe playing against him---I can't say for sure but I know I really like him as an actor. Again, Berry earned her Oscar. I've never seen her in a role this raw and she gives it her all. It's a hard watch but very well worth the effort if you're in the mood to see a well-directed, expertly played drama that is ultimately rewarding.
Halle Berry won a Best Actress Oscar for her role in this somber drama. I've only seen two of the nominees in the same category that year, Renée Zellweger and Nicole Kidman for Bridget Jones's Diary and Moulin Rouge! respectively, but I preferred Berry's performance in this. I don't know how much it drained her to act this out, but it drained me to watch, the emotion was so deep in this film. In the movie, Billy Bob Thornton plays a racist prison guard who works on Death Row, and Heath Ledger is his sensitive son who has started to work with his father. But it proves to be too much for Ledger and Thornton rides, beats, and berates his son mercilessly, leading to a bad result. Berry's husband is on Death Row and is played by Sean "Puffy" Combs, the rapper/actor, who does a good job in the short screen time he has. Berry is left to care for their preteen, overweight son who, like Thornton's son is also very sensitive and Berry treats him roughly as well. Things do not go well for her and her son either. After her husband is executed, she goes through a lot of rough times, including the threat of eviction from her house and a car on the fritz, and having to walk to work.
Although Berry and Thornton's paths almost meet at the prison, they actually meet when she is at the moment of her greatest need. Soon he finds a new purpose in life, and the two of them begin to find romance with each other despite his previous prejudice, and the interference of his bigoted father, played as a hardened, pathetic scum by the late, excellent Peter Boyle. It's hard to think of him as the same man who played the creature in Young Frankenstein, so good is his acting. Thornton's role was the best for me, because he is the person who really has to turn his life around and he applies himself to the task as hard as any person can, even making a huge familial sacrifice. I think he should have been nominated as well for an Oscar but there were a lot of heavy-hitters that year that hurt his chances. I think he's vastly underrated as an actor, with his naturalistic, "every man" type of roles maybe playing against him---I can't say for sure but I know I really like him as an actor. Again, Berry earned her Oscar. I've never seen her in a role this raw and she gives it her all. It's a hard watch but very well worth the effort if you're in the mood to see a well-directed, expertly played drama that is ultimately rewarding.