Monster's Ball Review
by Jerry Saravia (faust668 AT aol DOT com)March 7th, 2002
MONSTER'S BALL (2001)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
March 6th, 2001
RATING: Four stars
As much as I love some of Spike Lee's blunt attacks on racism in contemporary America, I do prefer the more implied notions of race in films like Carl Franklin's "One False Move" or John Sayles's "Lone Star" and "Passion Fish." "Monster's Ball" is another one of those reflective, absorbing Southern tales, where racism exists in some people but also where needs are often met firsthand, regardless of a person's race.
Billy Bob Thornton plays Hank Gratowski, an admired Georgia corrections officer who works with his son (Heath Ledger, in an astonishing performance), also a corrections officer. They live together in a big house, along with Hank's racist, sickly father (Peter Boyle), who despises weakness though he is a man of a weak heart. Racism and hatred filter in this family, though Hank's son is anything but racist. He makes friends with two young black kids in the neighborhood, and Hank can't help but hate his son for being friendly with blacks. The only consolation in this unhappy existence is a prostitute whom Hank and his son share (and we suspect, Hank's father might have in the past as well).
An execution of a death-row inmate, Lawrence (Sean Combs), is about to take place and Hank is in charge of supervising it. His son is not ready to see his dad go, whereas his wife, Leticia (Halle Berry), wants to move on. Lawrence makes portraits of Hank and his son, making it harder to see a man die by electrocution. Hank's son can't take it, vomiting on the way to deliver the inmate to his death. Hurt, despair, anxiety, depression, depersonalized sex and lack of communication center in on the relationships of all these people, and it will take a miracle to bring closure and some measured happiness to any one of them.
Director Marc Forster ("Everything Put Together") could easily lead the film into any road well travelled by other hack Hollywood directors. We could have entered a world of sentimentality where all wrongs are righted and all rights are wronged. Instead, he opts for a more daring approach. It happens when Hank, who quits his corrections job and decides to own a gas station, finds Leticia on the street begging for help when her son is killed in a hit-and-run accident. Hank has just gone through a similar hell when his own son meets an unfortunate end, and can't find solace at home with his father. These people need consolation, some pleasure of being needed, and that is at the heart of "Monster's Ball."
Like most great films, this one is dependent on reversing expectations completely. There are moments when Hank might react a certain way when seeing the same black kids he shouted at in an earlier scene, but he doesn't. Hank's father confronts Leticia in one scene, and we think that a shouting match is about to take place, but it doesn't. As written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos, the film observes the humanity in Hank and Leticia but it also looks at how they might behave in real life. People do not usually shout much or say much, they are most interesting when we see them thinking. And that is the observation in the extremely moving final shot where we observe Leticia in a moment of self-reflection that seems more comforting and reflective than what any words can say.
Billy Bob Thornton is one of the most magnetic, dynamic actors in cinema today, and I am still not sure how he does it. He gave us such incredible portraits in films as diverse as "Sling Blade," "One False Move," "A Simple Plan" and the more recent "The Man Who Wasn't There." I am betting it is those piercing eyes that stay glued to you, plus his extremely minimalist body language that keeps us watching. Nothing is more evocative when he sits quietly and passively, listening to Leticia laugh and cry at her own downward spiral in life. He listens, nods and smiles, and listening is as important as anything else an actor can do. Thornton is a master of it because we know his mind is at work, even when listening.
Halle Berry is the most surprising in the film, showing a mental, emotional breakdown that is enthralling and devastating to watch. But she is equally adept, again, at listening. Consider the scene where her husband, Lawrence, tries to explain to his son what will happen to him. The look in her eyes suggests pain and possibly regret, regret that she did not see how things might have been different. That makes her scenes with her son just as powerful, where she cajoles him into losing weight so he will not look like a pig anymore. Berry has not been this forceful or salient for quite some time, and she has matured greatly into a terrific character actress.
Like the current "In the Bedroom," "Monster's Ball" is all about gestures, silences, reactions, and physical space. It is a film to absorb as it tells its story slowly, allowing us to revel in the nuances and depth of the relationship between Hank and Leticia. They form a bond by mutual need for each other, to cling to someone who is not full of hate. It is a love story, but brimming with pain and hope for the future, and neither one pays much attention to their race or beliefs. And it is all based on the need to do so.
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