Not to be confused with
Poké Ball, which is called "Monster Ball" in Japanese versions of
Pokémon.
Monster's Ball is a 2001 American/Canadian drama film directed by Marc Forster, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger and written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos. It was produced by Lions Gate and Lee Daniels Entertainment. The title comes from a custom in medieval England where prisoners awaiting execution were called monsters. The night before their execution, their jailers would hold a feast known as a monster's ball as their final farewell. Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Leticia Musgrove.
Plot
Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), a widower, and his son, Sonny (Heath Ledger), are correctional officers in the local prison. They reside in Louisiana with Hank's ailing father, Buck (Peter Boyle), an unwavering racist whose wife had committed suicide. Hank's hateful attitude towards others, strongly influenced by his father Buck, results in Hank's hatred of his father, his son, and members of the neighboring community.
As Hank and Sonny assist in the execution of convicted murderer Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs), the proceedings prove too intense for Sonny, who begins to vomit as he is leading Lawrence to the electric chair. Hank is outraged by what he perceives as Sonny's weakness in "spoiling" Lawrence's "last walk" and humiliates Sonny for his perceived weakness and hits him.
Some time later, Hank drags Sonny out of bed and tells him to get out of the house. Unable to cope with the estrangement, Sonny grabs a gun. The confrontation ends in their living room with Hank at gunpoint, lying on the carpet, and Sonny in his grandfather's customary chair. Sonny asks his father, "You hate me, don't you?" After his father calmly confirms that he does and says he always has, Sonny responds, "Well, I always loved you," and then kills himself. Hank subsequently buries his son, quits his job at the prison, and burns his uniform in the backyard.
His father calls him a quitter.
During the years of Lawrence's imprisonment, his wife, Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry), has been struggling while raising their son, Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun). The boy, who inherited his father's artistic talent, is also morbidly obese. Along with her domestic problems, she also struggles financially, leading to the loss of the family car and more seriously, an eviction notice on her house. In desperate need of money, Leticia becomes employed at a diner frequented by Hank. One rainy night, Leticia and Tyrell are walking down a rain-soaked highway when the boy is struck by a car. Leticia is left helpless on the side of the road, grasping her son and calling out to passing motorists, although no one stops to help.
Hank happens to be driving along, however, and sees Leticia, cradling her mortally injured son. He initially drives by as well, but goes back to pick them up, driving them to a hospital. Tyrell dies upon arrival, and Hank lends his shoulder for Leticia to cry on. At the suggestion of the authorities at the hospital he drives her home. They find a lot in common, as they both lost sons they abused and spouses they never really loved. That night, they drown their grief with alcohol and sex. They begin a relationship, which is initially based on sex and relief from loneliness but later becomes emotionally supportive. Hank finds out that Leticia is Lawrence's widow, but he does not tell her that he participated in her husband's execution.
Leticia stops by Hank's home with a present for him. Hank is not home, but Buck is. Buck insults Leticia using raw racist language and implying that Hank is only involved with her because he wants to have sex with a black woman. She responds by rejecting Hank. This incident proves to be the straw that broke the camel's back for Hank and he desides to send his father to a nursing home and it is implied that Hank will cut him out of his life as well.
Leticia is evicted from her home for non-payment of the rent and Hank invites her to move in with him. She agrees.
Leticia discovers Hank's involvement in her husband's death while he is gone but is there waiting for him when he returns from town with ice cream. At first she looks dazed but gradually she seems to cheer up. As they sit on the porch, eating ice cream and gazing up at the stars, Hank says, "We're going to be all right."
Leticia does not reply.
Cast
Reception
The film received generally positive reviews. The review website rottentomatoes.com reported that 120 out of the 140 reviews they tallied were positive. This resulted in a score of 86% and a certification of "Fresh".[1] Roger Ebert gave the film four stars and stated that, "The movie has the complexity of great fiction"[2] listing it as the best film of 2001.
Acclaim was also given to Coronji Calhoun, who was chosen from an open casting call and was paid the minimum union scale for his work as Tyrell Musgrove, the ill-fated son of Lawrence and Leticia. "Perhaps one of the most affecting performances of the year was given by a 10-year-old Louisiana fourth-grader who has never acted before or studied the craft," commented Variety reporter Christopher Grove.
Despite numerous positive reviews of the film, some black activists urged a boycott, notably Miles Willis of the "Milestones" jazz program on Pacifica Radio's KPFT. His statement, championed by syndicated film columnist Esther Iverem, included the following: "Imagine the seething indignation that a Jewish man might feel while watching a story in which the widow of a Nazi concentration camp victim has an intimate relationship with the SS officer that shoved her husband into one of those ovens at Auschwitz!"[3]
Esther Iverem, SeeingBlack.com editor and film critic, stated that "you have to wonder if this is what it takes for a black woman to be named best actress … Who was the last "best actress" who did a nude sex scene?" (The answer was Gwyneth Paltrow, three years previously.) Iverem went on to say, "Ultimately, Monster's Ball uses the legacy of racism in an unconvincing manner to belittle its impact, and its historical and present-day consequences." Iverem maintained that scores of black men were boycotting the film.[4]
Awards and nominations
References
External links
