Critic Reviews
Monster's Ball (2001) Rank 4 Reviews
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based on (234) reviews
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Tail Slate (Monica Wilder)
The UK Critic (Ian Waldron-Mantgani)
"Monster's Ball" is a great film. It has been made with passion and commitment. It considers genuine personalities and extreme feelings, and lingers in the mind, holding some kind of spell over us long after it has ended. This is what cinema is for. To ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at The UK Critic (Ian Waldron-Mantgani)
Cinema Signals by The Filmiliar Cineaste
Movieman's Guide to the Movies (Brian Oliver)
The term "Monster's Ball" refers to when a death row inmate does not request a priest and is left during his last hours with only two prison guards. The inmate in this case is Lawrence Musgrove (Combs) and the two guards are Hank Growtowski (Thornton) ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Movieman's Guide to the Movies (Brian Oliver)
Jerry Saravia
An execution of a deathrow inmate, Lawrence (Sean Combs), is about to take place and Hank is in charge of supervising it. His son is not ready to see his dad go, whereas his wife, Leticia (Halle Berry), wants to move on. Lawrence makes portraits of Hank ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Jerry Saravia
Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
I won't reveal much about the film because I don't want to spoil it for you. But, cut to the chase... I thought it was great. Be warned, this is not an easy film. Offbeat would be an apt description. It offers a lot to think about and if you can leave ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
Norman Transcript (Jim Chastain)
This is pure adult drama, about issues that are deep as life itself. ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Norman Transcript (Jim Chastain)
NutzWorld (Blake French)
[Marc Foster] knows that careful, quiet dialogue, and long, silent pauses speak louder than lengthy emotional summaries. ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at NutzWorld (Blake French)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Eleanor Ringel Gillespie)
As oddly comforting as it is unsettling, Monster's Ball honors novelist E.M. Forster's famed dictum: 'Only Connect.' ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Eleanor Ringel Gillespie)
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Philip Martin)
less a love story than a movie about love — about how it leeches into disparate hearts and desperate circumstances, about raw and unlikely and redemptive it can be ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Philip Martin)
Cinerina (Karina Montgomery)
Please read review - I cannot summarize my amazement. ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Cinerina (Karina Montgomery)
Arizona Republic (Bill Muller)
A textbook example of fearless filmmaking, exhibiting a brand of gritty realism that's hard to watch but impossible to ignore. ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Arizona Republic (Bill Muller)
Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
Director Marc Forster shapes his love story like a master potter, forming a story of pure love, untainted by cliché. ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
BeatBoxBetty.com (--)
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. ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at BeatBoxBetty.com (--)
Cinema Signals (Jules Brenner)
Teletext (Victor Olliver)
Jerry at the Movies (Jerry Saravia)
Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)
The film's ending leaves the final outcome up in the air; the viewer is forced to draw his own conclusions about how the story turns out. This is a good choice by director Forster, emphasizing that one cannot always count on perfectly satisfying endings ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)
The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Much has been made of Thornton's and Berry's performances, and with good reason. Thornton's Hank is a closed-off man, reminiscent of his work in "The Man Who Wasn't There," in ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
Director Marc Forster's incisive and difficult film "Monster's Ball" features not only some of the best performances of the year (from Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry and Peter Boyle) but also one of the best scripts. Whenever the writers Milo Addica ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
About.com Hollywood Movies (Rebecca Murray)
"Monster's Ball" is a hauntingly compelling look at prejudice and racism. The film delves into one family's dark, depressing, inherited history of hatred for anyone not of the same race. Brutal and riveting, "Monster's Ball" treads where films seldom ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at About.com Hollywood Movies (Rebecca Murray)
Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)
Ledger becomes sick during the execution, and Thornton attacks him then attempts to throw him out of the house. Ledger responds by threatening his father with a pistol then turning it on himself. The most devastating scene of the movie occurs at the ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)
Three Movie Buffs (Patrick Nash)
A truly great film that should be seen by everyone. ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Three Movie Buffs (Patrick Nash)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
A powerful, complex, emotionally charged human interest drama about change suddenly happening to a real person (not a Hollywood cookie-cutter type) as he has to face his inward racist demons, in a part of the country where racial attitudes are changing ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Tail Slate (Monica Wilder)
This movie will leave you emotionally drained and will stay with you for days to come. ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Tail Slate (Monica Wilder)
ToxicUniverse.com (John Nesbit)
Often simple stories develop into the most complex character narratives, especially when delivered by consummate acting performances. Thornton and Berry deliver the goods here convincingly, making Monster’s Ball one of the top films ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at ToxicUniverse.com (John Nesbit)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
"Monster's Ball" is about a black woman and a white man who find, for a time anyway, solace in each other for their pain. But their pain remains separate and so do they; this is not a ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Daily-Reviews.com (Alex Ostapiej)
For all the recognition Berry gets for her performance (and again, rightly so) what seems to get lost is that this is a gem of a film. It grabs hold of your heart and mind from the very beginning and takes you through an array of situations and ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Daily-Reviews.com (Alex Ostapiej)
The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)
"Monster's Ball" is the derisive term the prison guards use for the gruesome ceremonies the night before a death row prisoner is to be executed. In the movie of that name, Hank (Billy Bob Thornton), one of those guards, clings to his hatred and racism ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)
One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
DVD Confidential
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
Under Forster's taut, intelligent direction, the cast delivers subtle, complex and realistic performances. ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
rec.arts.movies.reviews (Mark R. Leeper)
UpcomingDiscs.com (Jeremy Frost)
Monster's Ball is a very raw and powerful film. The story and the cinematography are wonderful, as is the acting… thus the Best Actress Academy Award for Halle Berry. ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at UpcomingDiscs.com (Jeremy Frost)
MovieWeb (B. Alan Orange)
mazzyboi's movie page (Angelo Aquino)
ToxicUniverse.com (John Beachem)
“Whatever, John,” you’re probably muttering to yourself. “This is about racism. I know it, and you should know it.” Well, I doubt I can convince you otherwise, so have it your way. I don’t think Monster’s Ball is quite the masterpiece ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at ToxicUniverse.com (John Beachem)
That Cow (Andrew Bradford)
People are going to decide that Monster's Ball is a good film. I agree, even think it's a great film, but it's an unconventional and surprising one which plays with our expectations without dominating us by its excessiveness. Relative ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at That Cow (Andrew Bradford)
Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
DVD Clinic (Scott Weinberg)
It’s about how two monumentally wounded (and stunningly different) people forge a tentative love affair in the face of massive personal tragedy. ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at DVD Clinic (Scott Weinberg)
Mark Reviews Movies (Mark Dujsik)
Review by Mark Dujsik
To use an understatement, racism is an incredibly touchy subject, and while a
good deal of Monster’s Ball seems to tackle the issue, restricting the
film to that area alone is doing it a great disservice. Monster’s Ball
uses ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Mark Reviews Movies (Mark Dujsik)
EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
Though marred by script that telegraphs its messages, this drama still manages to tell a compelling love story betweenn a redneck guard and a black widow, well played by Billy Bob Thronton and particularly Halle Berre, who should get Oscar nomination ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
DVD Talk (Ron J. Epstein)
With two different versions of "Monster's Ball" out now, it's hard for me to determine which one is more worthwhile. I feel the first release has a better set of extras (it has deleted scenes and two different commentaries), while this one features the ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at DVD Talk (Ron J. Epstein)
UpcomingDiscs.com (Jeremy Frost)
FilmHead.com (Matt Heffernan)
Reel Movie Critic (George O. Singleton)
The executioners are on hand at Lawrence's cell that night. Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) is training his son, Sonny (Heath Ledger), a rookie guard on death row, to efficiently pull the lever for the electric chair, as Hank's father Buck had ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at Reel Movie Critic (George O. Singleton)
Moda Magazine (Brian Orndorf)
Cinema em Cena (Pablo Villaça)
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Moving, powerful drama with terrific central performances - Halle Berry deservedly won an Oscar, but Thornton is equally impressive.Halle Berry’s embarrassing Gywnneth-athon at this year’s Oscars should not detract from the fact that, as Monster’s Ball ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
This is the second feature from director Marc Forster, whose debut, Everything Put Together, was never widely seen outside of the film festival circuit. Thus, Monster's Ball has become Forster's calling card, and it makes a bold ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Monster's Ball is a powerful and poignant motion picture not about racism and redemption, as one might initially suppose, but about one of the most urgent and universal of human needs - that of finding solace for pain and loneliness. Though it has some of ...read the complete Monster's Ball movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
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