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Steineded How sad is this?

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

krocheav On the outset this appeared to have enough potential to be OK. By the mid-section however it becomes a little obvious the filmmakers were trying to turn it into the 2001 of racial hate movies. They start with a minimalist plot then stretch out every scene till the threadbare writing begins to show. This writer/co-producer duo (Milo Addica & William Rokos) along with German director Marc Forster come across as perhaps having been victims of child abuse or worse. Ugliness seeps from the majority of scenes like puss from a festering sore. About every Character is totally unlikable (except maybe Heath Ledger playing Thornton's son with only a brief part).If anyone hasn't seen this by now, from here there could be a few plot spoilers: Billy thingy-ma-Bob Thornton is a bigoted, violent father who HATES his own son like no other before him. Thornton's father (Boyle) hates everyone except those who hate as equally as he does! A local young black woman (Hallie Berry) whose husband is on death row shows little more than contempt towards both her husband and their sad young son (her son compulsively eats chocolate bars to sooth his unhappiness with his home situation). At no time are we told why her seemingly intelligent, artistically talented negro husband has to be executed - did he murder somebody or simply upset some red-neck townsfolk?. Character establishment is treated as unimportant because the thin plot simply works towards stringing together a series of gratuitous sex scenes - and they don't get much sleazier. Lust simply replaces shared love for sake of sensationalism and this seems to have been the main selling point. Some say it's a tale of redemption but the redemption is treated as being simply 'tacked on' - occurring almost overnight and stemming from a shocking event the supposedly 'redeemed' bigot (Thornton) even more shockingly said he was pleased about!. None of this is very convincing. It would appear the average viewer of movies today may have been reduced to mulch - otherwise how could below par product like this receive more than a passing glance?. As for Berry, she 's reduced to a mere sex object - which seems to be enough for obsessed audiences to rave about. This brings us then to the also tacked on ending - looking like it was lifted strait out of "The Misfits"...the two 'redeemed' characters sit eating chocolate ice cream from a 'specifically' requested plastic spoon (plastic seems symbolic of this movie) and gaze up at the stars looking into their assured future. Disappointing and somewhat shameful. Seems also like it may have been a rather lean year - as predictably, the academy thought it just fine. For a good overview, read beyond the promo type reviews and into the general viewer analysis.

D' Francis A monster's ball is a phrase to describe the dinner a death row inmate gets the night before the execution. This is a sad movie, and will be difficult to watch for some.In the deep south, this is a story of practical romance, profound loss, and systemic racism to make the dilemmas these characters face even more difficult. Both lead characters question their own beliefs and convictions after losing their son.Sometimes, the character's motives are contrived and some scenes could have been shot better. But at the end, the message of this movie is that life can be unforgiving, you have to accept reality and build new opportunities for yourself.

jimbo-53-186511 Monster's Ball begins promisingly where we begin to witness friction between father and son prison guards Hank (Billy Bob Thornton) and Sonny (Heath Ledger). Sadly the issues between father and son are not particularly well explored - except that Dad is racist and son isn't. Then unexpectedly Hank's son shoots himself. Following her husband's execution and in an unfortunate coincidence, Leticia (Halle Berry) also finds herself dealing with the loss of her child. United in their grief, Hank and Leticia start to fall for each other.Screenwriters Milo Addica and Will Rokos are clearly plucking for a heart-rending drama here, but sadly Hank and Leticia aren't really developed well enough to be able to become fully swept up in their grief. Berry's character is better developed as her failings are much more apparent (poor timekeeping, money problems, a short fuse etc). Although her character wasn't entirely likable, I always got the impression that she was fairly well-intentioned. Sadly, the writers do nothing with Billy Bob Thornton's character and offer very little insight about him as a person. I suppose the anger and resentment that Hank shows to his son is merely a projection of the relationship that exists with Hank and his father. If we keep the focus on characters then let's move on to Peter Boyle's role as Hank's father Buck; he plays a grumpy old man but not an endearing or funny grumpy old man like Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino or Victor Meldrew in One Foot In The Grave, but instead he's an irritating, humourless miserable old git. To saddle Boyle with a role such as this is a criminal waste of his talents.Once Hank and Leticia begin a relationship following the deaths of their children the film takes on a very sleepy and ponderous turn. The chemistry was poor between Hank and Leticia and given the fact that the deaths of their children is ultimately what brought them together it's actually surprising how little focus their deaths seem to have on the plot. There was one scene where Leticia is talking to Hank about her son and how he used to hide candy bars etc - this was quite an effective scene which was cheapened a bit by the two of them 'getting it on' immediately after this touching and emotive moment. Aside from one or two moments, I found myself really bored in the second half of the film and just found it to be a rather dull, ponderous, film with some sex thrown in now and again and found myself just praying for it to end. In addition to this the film occasionally threw in absurd and irrelevant plot points like Hank becoming a Gas Station owner then ignoring this aspect all together after it's been mentioned??? Finally we'll come to Halle Berry and whilst her performance was good here I'd hardly consider it Oscar Worthy. There is a sex scene about halfway through the film where we get to see what Halle's 'got' and I can't help but wonder that after seeing this scene that the critics were thinking with a very different part of their anatomy when they decided to award her with the Oscar.

Nikki Dawes I thought this movie was incredible. Anyone going through a difficult time in their life can relate to this movie. One part of this movie touched me to the core, and I literally sobbed hysterically for half an hour during the movie. The acting in this movie is so raw, and powerful and just so true to real life. You actually will leave watching this movie with a sense of culture you didn't have before. Though not perfect the movie soars past any flaws, and truly rises above any movie I've seen in a while. Profound movie well worth watching again. Though definitely not for children, I think it's a movie i would want my kids to see when they get older. An amazing movie for sure, I truly loved this incredible piece of work with amazing actors.