The writers, director and producer of Monster's Ball should be ASHAMED and EMBARRASSED for actually charging innocent people to view this feeble attempt at a love story between a white male and a black female. You have to assume that is what they are attempting because the movie actually has no real story with a conflict or problem that needs to be solved.
*****spoiler follow*****
The black people in this film are all victims. The victimization starts with Lawrence Musgrove (Sean P. Diddy Combs) who is to be executed for a crime that is never mentioned. A large amount of time is used to show how the prison guards are preparing for the execution and Lawrence spends time with his wife and son. It would have been helpful to know if he was being sent to the electric chair because he shot 16 innocent people with a machine gun, or was he caught stealing at the local Walmart? As it is, he is just a victim without a story.
Then there is Leticia Musgrove who is the greatest victim in Hollywood history. Her husband is executed, her son is run over and killed, she is being evicted, she loses her job, and her car breaks down. She has no friends or support people. No mother, father, sisters or brothers to lean on. She is just alone in the big world all by herself.
Meanwhile, Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) is busy being a racist and child hater. He quits his job for a reason that is never explained, wanders around aimlessly, and must contend with a father who would make a member of the KKK blush. His son commits suicide in front of him and yet he has no remorse!!
SUDDENLY there is a change of heart by Hank who decides that black people really aren't that bad after all. He is nice to his black neighbors, who earlier in the movie were told to stay off his property or else. He gets a black girlfriend, sleeps with her, and decides he'll have her move in as well. We don't know why Hank changes. This script requires that you be a mind reader!! Maybe it's because Leticia is so beautiful but that is just a guess.
Is it a surprise that Leticia would be interested in Hank? What other choices does she have in life? It's really sad to think that the writers and director couldn't envision a love affair in which these two people come together because they like each other as equals. Instead, we get the 1902 version of race relations. The empowered and the victim.
The final victim in this story is Halle Berry herself. I will never understand how she was talked into an X-rated scene. There was absolutely no reason to go that far. She should have talked to Sidney Poitier who turned down roles that were negative stereotypes of black people when roles for minorities were almost impossible to find. She should have received an Oscar for "bad judgment". This movie gets a "1" on the scale of "1-10". Truly awful. It probably would have received a "10" in 1902.
*****spoiler follow*****
The black people in this film are all victims. The victimization starts with Lawrence Musgrove (Sean P. Diddy Combs) who is to be executed for a crime that is never mentioned. A large amount of time is used to show how the prison guards are preparing for the execution and Lawrence spends time with his wife and son. It would have been helpful to know if he was being sent to the electric chair because he shot 16 innocent people with a machine gun, or was he caught stealing at the local Walmart? As it is, he is just a victim without a story.
Then there is Leticia Musgrove who is the greatest victim in Hollywood history. Her husband is executed, her son is run over and killed, she is being evicted, she loses her job, and her car breaks down. She has no friends or support people. No mother, father, sisters or brothers to lean on. She is just alone in the big world all by herself.
Meanwhile, Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) is busy being a racist and child hater. He quits his job for a reason that is never explained, wanders around aimlessly, and must contend with a father who would make a member of the KKK blush. His son commits suicide in front of him and yet he has no remorse!!
SUDDENLY there is a change of heart by Hank who decides that black people really aren't that bad after all. He is nice to his black neighbors, who earlier in the movie were told to stay off his property or else. He gets a black girlfriend, sleeps with her, and decides he'll have her move in as well. We don't know why Hank changes. This script requires that you be a mind reader!! Maybe it's because Leticia is so beautiful but that is just a guess.
Is it a surprise that Leticia would be interested in Hank? What other choices does she have in life? It's really sad to think that the writers and director couldn't envision a love affair in which these two people come together because they like each other as equals. Instead, we get the 1902 version of race relations. The empowered and the victim.
The final victim in this story is Halle Berry herself. I will never understand how she was talked into an X-rated scene. There was absolutely no reason to go that far. She should have talked to Sidney Poitier who turned down roles that were negative stereotypes of black people when roles for minorities were almost impossible to find. She should have received an Oscar for "bad judgment". This movie gets a "1" on the scale of "1-10". Truly awful. It probably would have received a "10" in 1902.