Monster's Ball

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Monster's Ball
Directed by	Marc Forster
Produced by	Lee Daniels, Lions Gate Films
Written by	Milo Addica, Will Rokos
Starring	Billy Bob Thornton Halle Berry Heath Ledger Peter Boyle Sean "P. Diddy" Combs
Music by	Asche & Spencer, The Jayhawks
Distributed by	Lions Gate Films
Release date(s)	November 11, 2001
Running time	112 min. (Unrated Director's Cut)
Language	English
Budget	US$4,000,000
IMDb profile

Monster's Ball is a 2001 American drama/romance film directed by Marc Forster and written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos. It was produced by Lions Gate Films and Lee Daniels Entertainment. The title comes from a custom in medieval England where prisoners awaiting execution were called monsters. The night before their execution, their jailers would hold a feast known as a monster's ball as their final farewell.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Main cast 3 Reception 3.1 Critical Reception 3.2 Controversy within acclaim 3.3 Coronji Calhoun as Tyrell Musgrove 4 Awards/Nominations 5 External links

[edit] Plot summary

Hank Grotowski (Thornton), a widower, and his son, Sonny (Ledger) are employed as prison guards. They reside in Georgia, with Hank's ailing father, Buck (Boyle), an ardent racist who drove his own wife to suicide. Buck seemingly taught Hank how to hate which results in Buck's hatred of his father, his son and members of the neighboring community.

As Hank and Sonny assist in the execution of convicted murderer Lawrence Musgrove (Combs), the proceedings prove too intense for Sonny, who begins to vomit as he is leading Lawrence to the electric chair. Hank completely belittles Sonny for this percieved weakness. Unable to cope with such utter estrangement, Sonny lashes out at his father, armed with a revolver. The confrontation ends in their living room with Hank at gunpoint, lying on the carpet, and Sonny in his grandfather's customary chair. Sonny asks his father, "You hate me, don't you"? His father replies calmly, "Always did". Sonny responds, "Well, I always loved you", puts the barrel of the gun to his chest and pulls the trigger, killing himself. Hank subsequently buries his son, quits his job at the detention center and burns his uniform in his backyard.

During the years of Lawrence's imprisonment (and his subsequent execution) his wife, Leticia Musgrove (Berry), has been struggling while raising their son, Tyrell. The boy, who inherited his father's extraordinary artistic talent, is also morbidly obese. In facing these hurdles, Leticia drinks frequently and is thereby unable to pay her bills, leading to an eviction notice.

In desperate need of money, Leticia becomes employed at a coffee shop frequented by Hank. That same night, Leticia and Tyrell are walking down a rain-soaked highway, when the boy is struck by a car. Leticia is left helpless on the side of the road, grasping her son and calling out to indifferent passing motorists for help. None seem willing to stop and give aid.

Hank happens to be driving along soon after and sees Leticia cradling her mortally wounded son. He initially drives by as well, but eventually goes back to pick them up and drives them to a hospital.

Tyrell dies upon entering the hospital, and Hank reluctantly takes Leticia to his home. There, the two form an unexpected bond in their collective grief. They begin an affair, which is initially based on sex and relief from loneliness but later becomes emotionally supportive. Hank finds out that Leticia is Lawrence's widow, but he does not tell her that he participated in her husband's execution.

Buck strongly disapproves of the affair, and Hank turns his back on his father's hateful influence by sending him to a nursing home. At the end of the film, Leticia, even having uncovered Hanks complicity in her husband's death, affectionately leans on Hank with a seeming feeling of resignation at having found love from a very unlikely person. As they gaze up at the stars, he tells her "We're going to be all right.". ^[1]

[edit] Main cast

• Billy Bob Thornton … as Hank Grotowski
• Halle Berry … as Leticia Musgrove
• Heath Ledger … as Sonny Grotowski
• Peter Boyle … as Buck Grotowski
• Sean Combs … as Lawrence Musgrove
• Coronji Calhoun … as Tyrell Musgrove

[edit] Reception

[edit] Critical Reception

The film received generally positive reviews. The review website rottentomatoes.com reported that 115 out of the 137 reviews they tallied were positive. This resulted in a score of 84% and a certification of "Fresh" (as opposed to "Rotten"). ^[2] Roger Ebert gave the film four stars and stated that, "The movie has the complexity of great fiction"^[3] listing it as the best film of 2001.

[edit] Controversy within acclaim

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.

The film won Halle Berry the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2001.

Berry's role was described as breaking the stereotype of African-American women--she was not a hooker or drug addict--but in some ways it fits the mold: she was the wife of a criminal she was emotionally damaged by his execution; she had a menial job; and she related to a new man by falling into bed with him. She was also a mother of questionable competence, whose son is morbidly obese and dies soon after he appears in the film.

Despite numerous positive reviews of the film, many African Americans were initially deeply split over Berry's winning the award. On websites and blogs — such as SeeingBlack.com, BET.com, and EURWEB.com — new centers for discussion on black political and cultural issues — many poured out what they felt about what was really being said in the film. Some did not even view the film, but claimed "to know" enough about what was in it to urge others to boycott it, as with Miles Willis of KPFT's (Pacifica Radio's) 'Milestones' Jazz Program. His statement, which was championed by syndicated film columnist Esther Iverem, went around the Internet, and included observations like this: "Imagine the seething indignation that a Jewish man might feel while watching a story in which the widow of a Nazi concentration camp victim has an intimate relationship with the SS officer that shoved her husband into one of those ovens at Auschwitz!"

Willis was also angered at having to "watch black women gettin' down with mangy, white redneck 'billybobs'." Iverem, on Salon.com, chimed later, "You have to wonder if this is what it takes for a black woman to be named best actress […] Who was the last 'best actress' who did a nude sex scene?" (In fact it was Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love in 1999, there was also nudity present in Hilary Swank's Boys Don't Cry performance in 2000) Iverem went on to say, "Ultimately, Monster's Ball uses the legacy of racism in an unconvincing manner to belittle its impact, and its historical and present-day consequences." Iverem maintained that scores of black men were boycotting the film.

Many also believed that the scene perpetuated the stereotype of the "Jezebel" which generally portrays black women as ferocious and lewd, with an appetite for sexual encounters which is portrayed here by the animalistic and raw quality of the scene. ^[4]

Still others believed that Berry had been handed the award in a political move by the Academy to deflect previous charges of racism, a claim that has not been substantiated; proponents of this belief cite that Berry won the award the same night as Denzel Washington, during a ceremony hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, and which also contained numerous references and tributes to African American stars of past and present. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

The scene received rave reviews, and was described as "primal" and "raw." [9]

[edit] Coronji Calhoun as Tyrell Musgrove

"Perhaps one of the most affecting performances of the year was given by a 10-year-old Louisiana fourth-grader who has never acted before or studied the craft," commented Variety reporter Christopher Grove. Indeed, many people were particularly moved by — and concerned with — the plight of Coronji Calhoun, the youth who played Tyrell Musgrove, the ill-fated son of Lawrence and Leticia.

Coronji was chosen from an open casting call, and was paid the minimum union scale for his work. He also suffered demonstrably from obesity, a malady currently affecting increasing numbers of American children regardless of economic circumstances. Tyrell's chocolate addiction was based on his hunger for his absent father.

In a feature interview by iofilm.co.uk columnist Paul Fischer, Berry discussed working with Coronji, including the scene where she as Leticia strikes Tyrell for hiding candy. "Marc (the director) and I were talking to him, saying this is just a movie, and I kept saying, everything I do and say, it's not real. I really think you're wonderful. And he said, 'Well, whatever you do to me, Halle Berry, it isn't going to be worse than what the kids at school do to me.'"

On the film's website, which has since been removed, Coronji was described as being a normal child who enjoyed playing basketball and video games and who liked to dance. Still others suggested that something more should have been done for the boy by giving him a scholarship or a commemorative trust fund for his work. As Tyrell, Coronji poignantly brought his own experience about being fat, sensitive and artistic to the screen.

Coronji Calhoun was listed as missing on a Web site seeking to find and reunite survivors of Hurricane Katrina. However, it has been learned that Coronji was living some 25 miles outside of New Orleans, in a town that sustained little Katrina damage, and that he is alive and well.

[edit] Awards/Nominations

• Academy Awards
  • Best Actress in a Leading Role: (Halle Berry) Winner
  • Best Adapted Screenplay: (Milo Addica) & (Will Rokos) Nominated

• BAFTA Awards
  • Best Actress: (Halle Berry) Nominated

• Black Reel Awards
  • Best Actress: (Halle Berry) Winner

• Golden Globes
  • Best Actress in a Drama: (Halle Berry) Nominated

• MTV Movie Awards
  • Best Female Performance: (Halle Berry) Nominated

• National Board of Review
  • Best Actor: (Billy Bob Thorton) Winner
  • Best Actress: (Halle Berry) Winner

• Screen Actors Guild Awards
  • Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: (Halle Berry) Winner

[edit] External links

• review of Monster's Ball by cosmopolis.ch
• Monster's Ball at the Internet Movie Database
• Monster's Ball at Rotten Tomatoes
• Monster's Ball at Box Office Mojo
• [10] 2001 version of Monster's Ball script.
• [11] article by Uju Asika in Salon.com, regarding the response to Monster's Ball and Berry's Oscar.
• [12] Miles Willis' comments about Halle Berry's Oscar nomination that showed up on dozens of black listserves, websites, and in e-mails.
• [13] Metaphilm editor gives a highly unflattering review of Monster's Ball.
• [14] Esther Iverem's SeeingBlack.com column after Berry's Oscar win; however, links to reader responses in text may be dead.
• Article describing the Angela Bassett interview in Newsweek
• Interview with Halle Berry regarding her performance as Leticia Musgrove
• Official webpage of Imitating Life: Women, Race and Film conference sponsored by the Program in African American Studies, Princeton University, September 22-23, 2000
• "Whatever Works Best": article by Christopher Grove.