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© DSFC |
MONSTER'S
BALL
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| A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE | ||||||||||||
| by
jim Racism, anguish, love and family are the centerpiece themes in Marc Forster's dark tragedy MONSTER'S BALL. The latest darling of the independent film world, BALL, paces itself as slowly as the Southern drawl of it's cast members. BALL is not an exceptionally well crafted film. The camera work and editing is simple and unrefined. The screenplay, by first time writers Milo Addica and Will Rokos, is haunting, but plodding, and never fully let's us see inside the souls of the characters. This type of development has been lost in the films of late, but in intimate, personal pieces like this it is the glue that holds your film together and takes it from good to masterful. MONSTER'S BALL is more than the former, far from the latter. Billy Bob Thornton plays Hank Grotowski, a Georgia corrections officer who's hatred is as ugly as his name. He lives in a small town overrun with poverty and dashed hopes, with his ailing father (an astounding Peter Boyle) and his boy, Sonny (Heath Ledger), who is the latest in a family of corrections officers. Running parallel to the introduction to the Grotowski's is the story of struggling soon-to-be-single mom, Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry) and her overweight son (rookie actor Coronji Calhoun). His father is a death row inmate about to be executed at the hands of Hank, Sonny and the state of Georgia. The film borders on melodrama with it's high body count and constant racial commentary, but restrains itself from ever going over the top, despite it's obvious threats to do so. Through a series of happenstance and unfortunate events, Hank and Leticia wind up together, a couple swimming more in their shared grief and shattered lives, than in love. The issues of racism that the film starts off glaring at, it winds up flinching away from, with Hank never seeming to have to come to terms with his relationship with a black woman, despite his lifelong pattern of racism. It's as if Hank hated African-Americans merely because his father did and despite his years and experience, never thought to look at things another way. His son grew up in the same house and followed in the other leanings of the family, but never inherited the same prejudices. Hank's turn from racism is too clean and too easy. Halle Berry is a force to reckoned with in the film and may become the first black woman in decades to win an Oscar for acting. Her Leticia is desperate and passionate. As Hank, Billy Bob Thornton returns to the type of roles that he took before SLING BLADE made him a star. His quiet, restrained voice is shattered when the boiling temper underneath turns him into a volcano. This heightens the tensions and makes clear the pressures both in and around him. If only the screenwriters had fleshed out his character better, he too, maybe crossing his fingers Oscar night. Alas, it will remain a wasted opportunity, but will stand as one of the best performances of his career. Away from the glitz and glitter of fluffy Hollywood pieces, Heath Ledger proves himself an able young actor, poised to assume the role of a leading man capable of great diversity. Similarly, Peter Boyle steps away from comedy to assume the role of the elder Grotowski and the smiling Boyle we have grown to love is lost to an ignorant and angry old invalid. Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, regains his potential as an actor (see MADE...or don't) with a touching move as death row inmate Lawrence Musgrove. Coronji Calhoun may well never be heard from again, except to possible pop up as the fat kid in some lame children's movies, akin to THE MIGHTY DUCKS. He isn't a poor actor, there just isn't much demand for a kid that big who displays only mediocre talent. Hip-Hop artist Mos Def delivers a small, but noteworthy performance as a strong-willed foil of Hank's. MONSTER'S BALL revels in it's poor southern landscapes, treating them with the respect that John Ford gave to the wide open west. The film is often shadowy, but it works to great effect, commenting on the often questionable morals and motivations of the townspeople. The film is works because the actors work and the director knows just how to capture a moment with brilliant emotion. MONSTER'S BALL will not change your life, nor your attitudes on any of it's themes. It shows you the ugly side of people and leaves you wishing that the screenwriters cared about the characters as much as everyone else did.
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 I'VE OFTEN DREAMT OF SEEING THIS HAPPEN  WHO'S TITS ARE BIGGER?  HOTTEST GIRL IN THE MOVIE: HALLE BERRY  THREE GENERATIONS OF DUMB WHITE PEOPLE |
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