Look past the ugliness, and 'Monster's Ball' is a beaut
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"Monster's Ball" is the sort of film that tactful critics like to call "gritty": Starting with a scene of Billy Bob Thornton retching into a toilet, and continuing with explicit (and not at all prettied-up) sex, racial slurs and the meticulous depiction of death via electric chair, the film practically revels in misery.
And, in a manner rare for feature films, even the movies' two heroes are immediately shown to be horribly flawed. Hank (Thornton) is a deeply racist prison guard who shoos two young black boys from his property, using stinging language. Leticia (Halle Berry), a struggling waitress whose husband sits on death row, is emotionally abusive to her young son.
So yes, this one's tough. But the film's refusal to be likable isn't done simply to increase its gloom quotient; the tentative, tiny sense of hope that "Monster's Ball" ultimately expresses is all the more moving for its harsh beginnings. (Another film opening this weekend, "Storytelling," offers little possibility of redemption. "Monster's Ball," by contrast, gradually shows us its heart.)
Director Marc Forster, shooting in desolate, washed-out grays and browns, isn't afraid of long, slow silences, letting his camera linger on the etched-bare faces of his stars. And while "Monster's Ball" is an unlikely star vehicle, it showcases two intricate, splendid performances.
Thornton, in a role that bears traces of his reticent barber from "The Man Who Wasn't There," is grimly effective as a man who's imprisoned — not in the jail where he works, but in his family's racist, troubled history and future. He walks slowly, holding his body tightly, speaking in monosyllables; only late in the film do we see him breathe.
Berry, her trademark beauty muted but still present, like a sketch partly erased and yet visible, gives her finest film performance yet. As the tough-minded survivor Leticia, to whom life has dealt unspeakable blows, Berry combines fearful, steely eyes with a whispery voice that can explode into plaintive wails. Unlike Hank, Leticia is volatile, and Berry gives her a simmering quietness.
The rest of the cast is also strong, including Peter Boyle as Hank's bitter father, Sean Combs as Leticia's doomed husband, Coronji Calhoun as her young son, and a nearly unrecognizable Heath Ledger as Hank's son.
Though the film can initially seem off-putting, "Monster's Ball" slowly and quietly gets under your skin. In the end, with Thad Spencer's shimmery background music vibrating hopefully, as if waiting for something to happen, we're given a low-key gift of redemption and love.
Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com.
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