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Title: Monster's Ball (2001)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Billy Bob Thornton | ... | Hank Grotowski | |
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Taylor Simpson | ... | Lucille |
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Gabrielle Witcher | ... | Betty |
| Heath Ledger | ... | Sonny Grotowski | |
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Amber Rules | ... | Vera |
| Peter Boyle | ... | Buck Grotowski | |
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Charles Cowan Jr. | ... | Willie Cooper |
|
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Taylor LaGrange | ... | Darryl Cooper |
| Yasiin Bey | ... | Ryrus Cooper (as Mos Def) | |
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Anthony Bean | ... | Dappa Smith |
| Francine Segal | ... | Georgia Ann Paynes | |
| John McConnell | ... | Harvey Shoonmaker | |
| Marcus Lyle Brown | ... | Phil Huggins | |
| Milo Addica | ... | Tommy Roulaine | |
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Leah Loftin | ... | Booter |
Set in the Southern United States, 'Monster's Ball' is a tale of a racist white man, Hank, who falls in love with a black woman named Leticia. Ironically Hank is a prison guard working on Death Row who executed Leticia's husband. Hank and Leticia's interracial affair leads to confusion and new ideas for the two unlikely lovers. Written by Anna <annachan@amazon.com>
This movie was not a big favorite with audiences and I figured I would be among the majority on this one......but I wasn't - I like this film. In fact, I liked it even better on the second viewing.
I found it to be one of those rare movies that deals with racism that doesn't come on too heavy-handed with all the political correctness nonsense. It handled the problem intelligently, I thought.
The cinematographer, Robert Schaefer, did a terrific job with this, too, and that is another reason I have come to really enjoy this film. The visuals - and the audio - are outstanding.
None of the characters are particularly likable but I thought Billy Bob Thornton's "Hank Grotowski" was so interesting a character that I concentrated more on that than whether I liked him or not. However, I wound up liking him, anyway, and boy, did his character change in this film. There is a steamy sex scene in here with Billy Bob and Halle Barry that was quite the talk when the film was released. I didn't think it was all that it was made out to be. I've seen steamier moments such as Alec Baldwin and Kim Bassinger going at it in the non-rated version of "The Getaway."
Overall, this a rough film in spots but I think it is a solid, underrated drama that offers far more than the "celebrated" sex scene. This is a well-made movie.