 Hard-hitting Southern drama tempered by a story of powerful, life-changing love. Hank (Academy AwardŽ Winner - Billy Bob Thornton) is an embittered prison guard working on Death Row who begins an unlikely, but emotionally charged affair with Leticia (Academy AwardŽ Winner Halle Berry), the wife of a man under his watch on The Row. Storyline: Set in the Southern United States, 'Monster's Ball' is a tale of a racist white man, Hank, who falls in love with a black woman named Leticia. Ironically Hank is a prison guard working on Death Row who executed Leticia's husband. Hank and Leticia's interracial affair leads to confusion and new ideas for the two unlikely lovers. Written by Anna Cast Notes: Billy Bob Thornton (Hank Grotowski), Taylor Simpson (Lucille), Gabrielle Witcher (Betty), Heath Ledger (Sonny Grotowski), Amber Rules (Vera), Peter Boyle (Buck Grotowski), Charles Cowan Jr. (Willie Cooper), Taylor Lagrange (Darryl Cooper), Dante Beze (Ryrus Cooper), Anthony Bean (Dappa Smith), Francine Segal (Georgia Ann Paynes), John McConnell [I] (Harvey Shoonmaker), Marcus Lyle Brown (Phil Huggins), Milo Addica (Tommy Roulaine), Leah Loftin (Booter). User Comment: mjensen-3 San Antonio • Finally a movie about race with no preaching. Monster's Ball is the best film of the year and one of the best films of our decade. Halle Berry delivers the best performance of 2001 and deserved her Oscar. Billy Bob Thornton's performance isn't as great as his performance was in "The Man who wasn't There" but it's worth talking about. The directing was hypnotic and scary. THE PLOT The first scene of the film shows Hank (Billy Bob Thornton)who chases off two young black kids with his shotgun, while his father(Peter Boyle) and son (Heath Ledger) look on. This is a sick family. Then the film cuts to a young black woman Leticia (Halle Berry) who has a husband on death row and a morbidly obese son. He gets hurled by a car and dies in front of his mother. These two people look like they're about to commit suicide, then they find each other and begin a courtship. Leticia then has a revelation about Hank. THE CHARACTERS Billy Bob plays Hank, a man corrupted by his father and unable to escape. Halle Berry plays Leticia, a woman whose life is in shambles with the death of her husband and the demise of her son. Albert Brooks plays Hank's father, a crazy, racist, and lonely old man. Heath ledger plays Hanks son, a young man trying unsucessfully to be like his father. I love this film because it attempts to show that it doesn't matter if people are of different races, love is possible. In the scene when Halle Berry is talking to Billy Bob Thornton in the restaurant, he looks at her just as he would any other white woman. When you fall in love with someone of a different race, you don't see them as black, white, yellow, or red, you just see them as a person. People may not understand the message, all I know is that I understand. I recommend this film to anyone who just wants to see a good film. I give this film a 15 out of 10. Summary: The Best film of the year *corrected review* Trivia:
IMDb Rating (03/14/15): 7.1/10 from 66,958 users IMDb Rating (06/12/02): 7.8/10 from 2,819 users
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