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DVD: A story of racism, loneliness and love
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 13, 2002
DVD: New and noteworthy for digital players
Monster's Ball
History happened a little too late for the DVD version of the best film of 2001. Halle Berry's groundbreaking Academy Award for best actress -- the first African-American woman so honored -- was presented weeks after she recorded a commentary track for the movie that earned it.
Monster's Ball is an extraordinary film, so rich in its emotional layers and provocative in its themes of racism, loneliness and love conquering both. Berry deserved her Oscar, playing Leticia Baldridge, a hand-to-mouth waitress raising a troubled son alone since her husband (Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs) is on death row. Billy Bob Thornton should have been nominated as Hank Grotowski, the prison guard who will help pull the switch.
Leticia and Hank meet by chance, fall in love almost by accident, facing the consequences of Hank's violently bigoted father (Peter Boyle) and Leticia being unaware of Hank's connection to her husband. Marc Forster's movie pulls no punches when it comes to intolerance, or the needy passion of two people who seem to have nothing in common but tragedy. Monster's Ball is shocking, yet profoundly uplifting in its final moments, when Berry sealed the Academy's ballots with a stunning, wordless scene.
One of the film's pivotal moments occurs when Leticia begs Hank to erase her pain, resulting in the rawest sex scene ever between two major movie stars, as meaningful to the drama as it is explicit. "I can watch this and really not associate myself with it," Berry says.
Forster joins cinematographer Roberto Schaefer on the second commentary track, providing more technical detail than his constant compliments of Berry and Thornton.
Four deleted scenes indicate how much deeper the screenplay by Milo Addica and Will Rokos could have gone with more running time.
Monster's Ball is a somber film, but several candid clips indicate Thornton did whatever he could to keep the mood light on the set. It's interesting to watch him and Berry joshing before the cameras roll then snapping into character at the word "action." The crowning touch is Thornton doing a take as Hank using the unforgettable face and voice of Karl Childers, his simple-minded killer in Sling Blade. It's tastier than mustard and biscuits.
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