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Movies / On DVD / Monster's Ball
Monster's Ball

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Monster's Ball (2001)

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Reviews Counted:141

Fresh:120

Rotten:21

Average Rating:7.4/10

Consensus: Somber and thought provoking, Monster's Ball has great performances all around.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong sexual content, language and violence

Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Dec 26, 2001 Limited

Box Office: $31,252,964

Synopsis: MONSTER'S BALL is a hard hitting Southern drama tempered by a story of powerful, life-changing love. It is the story of Hank (Billy Bob Thornton), an embittered prison guard working on Death Row... MONSTER'S BALL is a hard hitting Southern drama tempered by a story of powerful, life-changing love. It is the story of Hank (Billy Bob Thornton), an embittered prison guard working on Death Row who begins an unlikely, but emotionally charged affair with Leticia (Halle Berry), the wife of a man he has just executed. MONSTER'S BALL also features Heath Ledger and Peter Boyle. Boyle plays Hank’s bigoted, aging father, whose hatred seems to have poisoned his entire family as much as the family business, which is working on the prison Death Squad. Ledger plays Hank’s son, who is hell-bent on getting out of the family business. The film is directed by award-winning filmmaker Marc Forster. He was nominated for an IFP/West Spirit Award as Best Low Budget Feature and won the Movado "Someone to Watch" Prize at the 2001 Spirit Awards for his film, "Everything Put Together."

Set in Georgia, MONSTER'S BALL was filmed entirely on location in and around New Orleans, Louisiana and at the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola (also known as "The Farm").

MONSTER'S BALL is from an original screenplay by Milo Addica and Will Rokos, is produced by Lee Daniels, executive produced by Mark Urman, Mike Paseornek, and co-produced by Milo Addica and Will Rokos. Lions Gate Films will release the film in December, 2001. -- © 2001 Lions Gate Films [More]

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Peter Boyle

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Peter Boyle, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Mos Def

Director: Marc Forster

Director: Marc Forster
Screenwriter: Milo Addica, Will Rokos
Studio: Lions Gate Films

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Release:

Jun 11, 2002

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Reviews for Monster's Ball

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating)
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
01/12/04
Film Threat

It's not exactly a ball, but this movie does feature two monster performances.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
12/27/01
E! Online

While Billy Bob transforms terrifically from a bigot to a noble man in a biracial relationship, Halle is just plain brilliant as a poor and exhausted woman who finally reaches her breaking point.

Full Review Source: BeatBoxBetty.com | comment Comment
03/07/02
BeatBoxBetty.com

This is one of those rare movies in which even people glimpsed only for a moment or two seem to have lives that ramify beyond the screen, as if the story were being witnessed rather than dramatized.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
12/26/01
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Forster successfully navigates small-town American Gothic terrain, brilliantly detailing not only the association between grief and self-destruction, but also grief's capacity to engineer profound redemption.

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
02/04/02
Adam Nayman
Adam Nayman
eye WEEKLY

Hay escenas duras, y hay detalles de guión que no convencerán si son quisquillosos, pero las actuaciones pagan con creces todos los fallos y valen el pago del boleto.

Full Review Source: Cinenganos | comment Comment
04/14/02
Alex Ramirez
Alex Ramirez
Cinenganos

Intimate, gruelling, and in some strange way, uplifting.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
02/17/02
Ben Falk
Ben Falk
BBC

Sadness engulfs the people in this provocative drama like a dense fog, leaving them with little sense of direction or purpose except trying to get by each day. Stunning performances!

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
06/05/02
Betty Jo Tucker
Betty Jo Tucker
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

A textbook example of fearless filmmaking, exhibiting a brand of gritty realism that's hard to watch but impossible to ignore.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
03/04/02
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[Marc Foster] knows that careful, quiet dialogue, and long, silent pauses speak louder than lengthy emotional summaries.

Full Review Source: NutzWorld | comment Comment
04/15/02
Blake French
Blake French
NutzWorld

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Modamag.com | comment Comment
01/09/02
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
Modamag.com

This complex, rich film dwells in the shades of grey, never offering an easy answer and always leaving us with questions.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
02/09/02
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

Well-told, sad and funny and ultimately uplifting.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
11/29/01
Bridget Byrne
Bridget Byrne
Boxoffice Magazine

A damn fine film.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
02/08/02
Bruce Kirkland
Bruce Kirkland
Jam! Movies

In [Berry's] remarkably animated performance, Thornton's deft laconic turn finds a fitting match.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
01/24/02
Bruce Newman
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Forster's poised direction, as well as powerful turns from Billy Bob Thornton and the Oscar-winning Halle Berry, make this compelling viewing.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
03/02/03
Caroline Westbrook
Caroline Westbrook
Empire Magazine

The low-key performances by Thornton and Berry are so deeply felt that you feel like a cell mate in their emotional prisons.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
02/07/02
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A subtle, restrained film.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
02/08/02
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Halle Berry, of all people, gives one of the year's strongest performances

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
05/25/02
Collin Souter
Collin Souter
eFilmCritic.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating)
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