Monster's Ball
TV ClubHouse: archive: Movies Sept 2002 - April 2003:
Monster's Ball
Alegria | Sunday, July 14, 2002 - 09:03 am     Has anyone else seen this one? I finally saw it and enough time had passed since the Oscars so I could watch it without all they hype clouding my judgement. That being said - Halle really did earn her award. Her character was so vulnerable and tough, brittle but resiliant. There were many interesting characters and I was really surprised by Billy Bob Thornton. It was hard to recognize him in this. There was so much sadness and dysfunction in the different relationships and I was really rooting for the two characters to find peace together. There had been talk about the explicit sex scene in the film. The hype about that scene made me resistant to seeing the film. It was very powerful. The filmmaker is Swiss-born and it is interesting to me that he could immerse himself in such a particularly American environment and portray it so well. It was also the most powerful execution scene I have ever watched. Now I understand why dealing with death row inmates is so stressful for their guards. I met some prison guards a few years ago and was surprised at how much they cared for the inmates, it did not match the stereotype. The young actor who played her son was really gifted and watching him eat that chocolate bar broke my heart. I loved this movie. |
Ketchuplover | Sunday, July 14, 2002 - 11:16 am     Looks like I'll have to give it a look-see That was a well done review |
Alegria | Sunday, July 14, 2002 - 11:29 am     Thanks Ketchup, I look forward to hearing your take. I forgot to mention that the prisoner was played by Sean Combs (formerly puff daddy). I half-expected him to be terrible but he was good. This was a very unusual movie. |
Webkitty | Sunday, July 14, 2002 - 12:00 pm     I saw this. It was "different". I didn't mind the scenes with Halle and Bill Bob, but that opening scene with the local town prostitute and Billy Bob's son was gratuitus. There was no point in it and it was a rather shocking way to start the movie, imo. This movie had no humor in it at all. It was a serious movie and I thought it dragged at times. Halle's performance: I thought she was better in the Dorothy Dandridge Story. This movie never allowed me to really "care" about her character. The story line didn't give any background to her life, like it did for Billy Bob. Also, I just couldn't buy into skinny little Halle having a son that was so seriously overweight. Her character didn't have the skills to deal with this issue, and she was rather abusive to him. So, when he died, I felt that the over the top screaming jag she went on came out of guilt rather than a true closeness and deep love for her son. Billy Bob's character was more compelling, and the story line gave me a glimpse of why he was like he was. I thought he was a far more tragic figure. It was a sad little movie about sad little people, it left me depressed. From what I can gather of your tastes in movies Ketchup, I don't think you will be too impressed with this, but don't let my opinion hold you back from seeing it. JMO |
Lycanthrope | Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 06:02 pm     I saw this movie a while back, and I gotta tell you it hit me in the face. You couldn't relax throughout the entire flick. It seemed when it did start to drag, something else would happen that dropped my jaw to the floor. The sex scene between Halle and Billy Bob was way overblown in the press; it wasn't that gratuitous. The scene with the hooker and the son was necessary to illustrate that he's incredibly lonely and lacks the self-confidence to get a real girlfriend. In the end, it didn't leave me depressed, just a little uneasy. I agree that it's a bit unrealistic for characters that look like Sean Combs and Halle Berry to have such an obese child together. The role was originally offered to Angela Bassett, who's a little larger than Halle(but by no means large) and that might have been a little more realistic. |
Hippyt | Saturday, December 07, 2002 - 07:50 pm     I'm finally watching this movie right now! It awsome! |
Hippyt | Monday, December 09, 2002 - 07:32 pm     OKay,I wanted to come back and comment on this movie. I liked this movie so much I'll be watching it again soon. The story was sad,but good. The acting blew me away! Halle deserved the Oscar. Billy Bob was great,and I didn't expect much from Sean Combs,but he did a good job. I did not come away from this movie feeling depressed,I was uplifted by the end! And when Billy Bob's character showed his 'new' friend the gas station,and the guy asked 'Who's Letitia??' His answer made me want to stand up and cheer! Can you tell I found this movie really moving? Loved it! |
Quietstorm4 | Thursday, December 12, 2002 - 08:32 pm     I absolutely love this movie, and also agree that Halle deserved her Oscar. I bought it right after I watched it. My only gripe is that I could have done without the sex scene, but I could say that about so many other movies; and I agree it was way overblown. I guess it does look a little weird to see Halle with such an obese child, but it does happen. The way the boy was hoarding candy and constantly sneaking food to eat, it was totally believable that he could blow up like that. Unless you have a weight problem, you can't possibly fathom what eating like that can do to you no matter what others in your family look like. And on a side note, Angela Bassett was never offered this role. She read the script, but the director stated that he always wanted Halle for the role. There was an article written a few months back in Time Magazine (I think) where Angela kind of put down Halle doing this movie. She said she along with Vanessa Williams turned down the role, because it was demeaning and it meant prostituting herself (which I didn't see in the movie). The director refuted her saying she did get a script to read but she was never offered the part. |
Hippyt | Friday, December 13, 2002 - 06:44 pm     That's interesting Quiet,about Angela Bassett. I don't see doing that role as prostituting oneself either. But,if done with the wrong director,I suppose it could have happened easily. A very delicate story to tell in the right way. |
Abbynormal | Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 04:01 pm     I just saw this movie a few nights ago. I felt the scene with the son and the prostitute was just another view showing us "like father, like son". How very sad. I was blown away with Billy Bob's performance. He was so in the moment, I felt he actually was this man. Just awesome to me. As to the weight of the child, I felt it signified more than anything how out of control their lives were. A single mother who wanted to do well by her son, but lacked the resources and or willpower to change it. The ending left me wondering. I was confused as to what she was thinking as she looked over at the graves. Had she given up, knowing he would take care of her? Was she just going to live with her pain of knowing he had a hand in her husband's death? |
Webkitty | Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 04:37 pm     Abby, I just caught this movie again on one of the premium channels. I liked it better the second time around. The first time I saw it, I didn't know right at the beginning of the movie why his son was with the prostitute, it made more sense the second time around. I was also blown away with Billy Bob's performance. I still liked Halle better in the Dorothy Dandridge story, lol! But, she was good in this too. I still didn't like the way her character treated her son, but I know that was the way it was written. I had the exact same feeling you did at the end. Was she still in shock at just finding out that her new man was the guard that her dead husband drew pictures of on death row? Did she feel sorry for Billy Bob when she saw the graves, and understood he had lost his mate and child too? (plus his mother) That they were both alike, lonely? Did she just give up? What was it!! |
Hippyt | Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 05:05 pm     I took it that she realized that he had lost his son,and she knew he'd been through the feelings she had. Remember she saw the drawings her husband did of Billy Bob and his son,so she had figured out what had happened, and,since Billy Bob had quit his job after his son's death.Anyway,blab,blah,I'm babbling! What I'm trying to say is I think she realized they were soul mates,and had both been through hard times. |
Hummingbird | Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 08:52 pm     Peter Boyle played such a dispicable character in this film! I saw it quite a while ago and I can't remember the significance of the title. Did they refer to it in the movie? Didn't it have something to do with the execution? I can't look at Boyle without thinking of his portrayal of "The Monster" in Young Frankenstein. |
Lycanthrope | Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 12:47 am     "Monster's Ball" is the little get together the condemned man has with the guards. In this flick, the condemned drew portraits of Billy Bob and Heath while they talked. |
Squaredsc | Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 07:43 am     i didn't care for the movie at all. |
Cassie | Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 10:23 am     <The scene with the hooker and the son was necessary to illustrate that he's incredibly lonely> I read more into it than that. The father (Billy Bob) also did the exact same thing with the hooker as the son. To me, it portrayed the deeply felt misogony that was likely handed down from father-- to son -- to son, along with the obvious racist feelings handed down. The way both father and son performed with the hooker spoke volumes about their feelings about women... emotionally closed down to the point they didn't even want to look at them during sex; anal sex only as a way to humiliate them, and so on. I saw this movie LONG after the oscars; I avoided it as Halle Berry's performance at the Oscars left me cold, and I had no wish to see her in anything...she seemed over the top hysterical. BUT, now I can only say that she deserved that oscar. She was terrific in the part and I think it WAS the best movie of the year. Four thumbs up!  |
Cassie | Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 10:27 am     Ps...I also think that's why the hot sex scene was not gratuitous. It showed an explosion of passion and feelings which led to Billy Bob's very profound change. |
Hippyt | Saturday, March 15, 2003 - 12:33 pm     Heads up for anyone who wants to see this ,or watch it again. It premieres on HBO tonight,7 central. |
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