This is one of the best-acted films of 2001, with one excellent performance after another although no one displays as much versatility and depth as Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton in yet another excellent film of 2001, Monster's Ball.
Monster's Ball is a stunning and painful drama that is one of the most successful movies in recent history to bring two characters together through tragedy after tragedy. The story essentially revolves around the Grotowski family. Three generations live under the same roof. The main one is Hank (Billy Bob Thornton) who lives in the old Southern home with his ailing father Buck (Peter Boyle) and Hank's son Sonny (Heath Ledger). All three deliver great performances in their roles, the only reason Thornton's excels is because there is more of him in the film. Hank and Sonny work at their local correctional institute somewhere in rural Georgia. The area in which they work is Death Row, and they are part of the team that walks a man to the chair and hooks him up for the electrocution. Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs) is a black man on death row that they assist in executing. Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry) is his wife who has been taking his son to see him for the 11 years he has been incarcerated.
This movie's tagline is "a lifetime of change can happen in a single moment". This entire film is about showing just how that can happen through a combination of calamities and a surprise bout of love. What makes this film superior is that it never gives us the predictable way out or the expected manipulated pull on the heartstrings that critics hate so much. The director merely paints a picture and the pain that picture conveys is strong and compelling, creating one of the most amazingly powerful films of the year.
Each actor is perfect in their role, and one has to think it can only be due to their commitment to this story and film and under the guise of a strong director. Halle Berry is remarkable and real as the very hurt yet resilient Leticia. Thornton portrays his internal conflict silently and convincingly. Peter Boyle makes us believe he is a true racist chauvinist. Heath Ledger shows he can shine in a serious drama. Sean Combs shows us he can act, not just rap, and pretty damn well.
A painful yet uplifting film of personal redemption and hope in the midst of generations of turmoil and dysfunction, Monster's Ball is an intensely engrossing and unpredictable film that should not be ignored. A film with this many good performances is worth the price of the ticket alone.
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