'MONSTER'S BALL' INVITES PRAISE FOR DETERMINATION.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic ``Monster's Ball'' wallows in the kind of misery peculiar to Southern Gothic Southern Gothic is a subgenre of the Gothic writing style, unique to American literature. Like its parent genre, it relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot. movies. There's poverty and racism, self-loathing and swampy secrets. The movie begins with the sound of Billy Bob Thornton Robert George (Bob) Thornton (born July 10 1962, in Los Angeles, California) is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA whose career lasted from 1985 to 1996. He was a 6'10" 225 forward. He holds career averages of 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 283 total games. vomiting and ends on a grace note that's so beautifully done that you can almost forgive the litany of excesses that have paraded before you in the previous two hours. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , it's a mixed bag. The movie follows two characters - prison guard Hank Grotowski (Thornton) and poor waitress Leticia (Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry (IPA: /ˈhæliː ˈbɛriː/) (born August 14, 1966[1]) is an American actress. ) - badly in need of love and redemption. Hank lives with his racist, decrepit de·crep·it adj. Weakened, worn out, impaired, or broken down by old age, illness, or hard use. See Synonyms at weak. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin d father (Peter Boyle Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006)[1][2] was an Emmy Award-winning American actor who is perhaps best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. ) and his lonely son, Sonny (Heath Ledger). Hank and Sonny do the same work as Hank's father once did - executing prisoners on Death Row. It's a brutal legacy that Sonny wants to escape almost as badly as he wants to put the bigotry of his family behind him. (There's also an unhappy matter that Grotowski women seem to commit suicide, not all that surprising given the men's behavior.) As for Leticia, she's the wife of Lawrence (Sean Combs), a Death Row prisoner who, 11 years after his sentencing, is about to go to the electric chair. The couple has an obese son, Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun), whom Leticia beats for hiding and eating candy bars. Lawrence's imminent death comes more as a relief than anything else. Hank and Leticia don't meet on Death Row, but later in the movie under even more dire circumstances. (Believe me, in this movie, it is possible to have situations more dire than the electric chair.) Theirs is an unlikely union brought about by loneliness, desperation and need. When they make love, it's not about erotic desire as much as a searing sear 1 v. seared, sear·ing, sears v.tr. 1. To char, scorch, or burn the surface of with or as if with a hot instrument. See Synonyms at burn1. 2. longing for a human connection. Director Marc Forster unfolds the events in a spare style as muted as the hum of cicadas in the far-off distance. But for all the movie's artful determination to be low-key, it is remarkably exploitative in its protracted pro·tract tr.v. pro·tract·ed, pro·tract·ing, pro·tracts 1. To draw out or lengthen in time; prolong: disputants who needlessly protracted the negotiations. 2. execution sequence, something as unnecessary to the story as Hank's fixation on ordering chocolate ice cream with a plastic spoon. Only after the movie leaves Death Row does it lurch into gear, picking up steam as it allows its characters to behave like recognizable human beings instead of composites from a Flannery O'Connor short story. Thornton's outstanding minimalist work won't surprise anyone who saw him recently in the Coens' ``The Man Who Wasn't There.'' If anything, he's better here, fearless in his desire to expose Hank's hatefulness before bringing him around to see the light. Berry proves equally determined to strip Leticia of sentimentality as she takes us on her character's soul-shattering journey of self-discovery. Despite the movie's shortcomings A shortcoming is a character flaw. Shortcomings may also be:
``MONSTER'S BALL'' (Rated R: strong sexual content, language and violence) The stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Peter Boyle, Sean Combs. Behind the scenes: Directed by Marc Forster; screenplay by Milo Milo, athlete of ancient Greece Milo (mī`lō) or Milon (mī`lŏn), fl. 500 B.C., athlete of ancient Greece, b. Crotona. Addica and Will Rokos. Released by Lions Gate. Running time: One hour, 51 minutes. Playing: Laemmle's Town Center 5 in Encino; Laemmle's Playhouse 7 in Pasadena; Laemmle's Sunset 5 in West Hollywood; Laemmle's Monica in Santa Monica. Our rating: Three stars CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Heath Ledger, left and Billy Bob Thornton, right, lead Sean Combs on the longest walk of them all in ``Monster's Ball.'' |
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