Monster's Ball (2001)
- Starring:
- Billy Bob Thornton, Heath Ledger, (more)
- Director(s):
- Marc Forster
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R
- Category:
- Drama
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Director Marc Forster, winner of Best Feature at Slamdance for his debut film Loungers (1996) and the "Someone to Watch" Independent Spirit Award for his indie drama Everything Put Together (2000), follows up those acclaimed projects with this intense, racially charged romance. Billy Bob Thornton stars as Georgia prison guard Hank Grotowski, a hard-drinking racist ex-cop whose father, Buck (Peter Boyle), is dying of emphysema and whose son, Sonny (Heath Ledger), works the execution detail at the prison's death row. When Sonny commits suicide, Hank is devastated and quits his job, spiraling into a deep depression until, one night, he comes to the aid of Leticia (Halle Berry), a beautiful African-American woman whose son, Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun), has been hit by a car. When Tyrell dies, Leticia and Hank find themselves to be unexpected soul mates linked together by tragic grief. It's not long before Hank discovers that Leticia is the widow of Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs), the man whose execution by electric chair he and his late son helped to orchestrate. Monster's Ball (2001) is based on a screenplay by actors Milo Addica and Will Rokos, who spent five years developing their script into a feature. Their title refers to the name of an English tradition requiring jailers to throw a party for a condemned man on the night before his death. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 112 mins
Complete Cast:
- Billy Bob Thornton - Hank Grotowski
- Halle Berry - Leticia Musgrove
- Sean Combs - Lawrence Musgrove
- Will Rokos - Warden Velasco
- Coronji Calhoun - Tyrell Musgrove
- Taylor LaGrange - Darryl Cooper
- Heath Ledger - Sonny Grotowski
- Peter Boyle - Buck Grotowski
- Mos Def - Ryrus Cooper
- Milo Addica - Tommy Roulaine
- Charles Cowan Jr. - Willie Cooper
- Director(s):
- Marc Forster
- Writer(s):
- Will Rokos, Milo Addica
- Producer(s):
- Lee Daniels
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R(Profanity, Strong Sexual Content, Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Nudity)
- Categories:
- Drama
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
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- 2001 - Monster's Ball - National Board of Review - Best Actor
- 2001 - Monster's Ball - National Board of Review - Best Actress
- 2001 - Monster's Ball - Screen Actors Guild - Best Actress
