Monster's Ball

Powerful message in a melancholic drama bogged down by un-real contrivances and other issues

A father and son (Billy Bob Thornton and Heath Ledger) are correctional officers in Louisiana who live with their father, a former corrections officer and hateful racist (Peter Boyle). After overseeing the execution of a black man (Sean 'Diddy' Combs) a couple of tragedies compel the father, Hank (Thornton), to meet the struggling ex-wife of the executed man (Halle Berry).

The cast, locations, score and directing are all excellent. The problem is the contrived script, which tends to focus on the worst in humanity and sometimes creates a feeling of surreal un-reality. As far as the former goes, the first half features ugly racism, prostitution (and the corresponding overt sex scene), hate, a prison execution, an unforeseen suicide and a sudden hit-and-run. If you can handle all that in the first 55 minutes, you might appreciate this movie.

Some of these sequences work (the prostitute scene and the execution) and some don’t (the racism, suicide and hit-and-run). The latter ones have a sense of unreality either because of dubious writing or weak execution, or both. Take, for instance, the racist remarks by the old patriarch (Boyle). They come off unbelievable and laughable (or maybe they wanted them to come off laughable?). With better writing/acting/directing they would’ve worked. Or take the hit-and-run: it’s totally off-camera; and the segue into the aftermath is weak. The viewer is left asking, “What just happened? Did I miss something?” As for the suicide, it was just unconvincing in more than one way.

Halle won an Oscar for her performance, but I found her miscast. She was too white, too intelligent and too young/gorgeous for the role. As for being “too white,” her son would’ve had lighter skin. In regards to being “too intelligent,” when she has a long talk with Hank on the couch I didn’t buy her character. It came across as an obviously enlightened B...