Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

The main characters in “Monster’s Ball” experience an epiphany. Both learn from the circumstances in their lives that hatred merely breeds even more hatred, and that this feeling can leave them all alone in the world. Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) is a racist, hateful corrections officer at a southern prison that also employs his son, Sonny (Heath Ledger). One night, they’re part of the detail of a real monster’s ball – a convicted murderer’s final night before his execution. The inmate, Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs), spends part of that night drawing sketches of both Hank and Sonny. During the walk on the last mile, though, Sonny, gets sick, and Hank gets angry that Sonny ruined it. Further, Hank is angry that Sonny has befriended the children of a black neighbor. To put it nicely (unlike the movie), Hank thinks Sonny is weak and womanly, and compares the son to his mother, for whom he has equal contempt. Father and son get into a fight at home, which ends when Sonny kills himself.

Meanwhile, in the same community, Musgrave’s widow, Leticia (Halle Berry), is relieved that the visits to the prison are over, for she has other issues. She is about to lose her job for repeated tardiness, she’s about to be evicted from their home, and their son, Tyrell (Coronji Cornell), is grossly overweight, and won’t stop eating. Leticia is so fed up with Tyrell’s weight, she hits him to the point where he’s in tears. One night, as they’re going home from her new job, Tyrell is struck by a hit-and-run driver. Hank happens upon the scene and rushes them to the hospital, but Tyrell dies. Hank, who only knows Leticia as the new waitress at the restaurant he frequents, takes her home, and they drown their sorrows in liquor and passion.

This is happening as Hank is making other changes in his life. In the wake of Sonny’s suicide, Hank quits the corrections department and buys a service station. His ill and aging father, Buck (Peter Boyle), himself a retired prison guard, now accuses Hank of the same weakness Hank saw in Sonny. Buck, who has the same scorn for blacks as Hank has had, doesn’t even know about Leticia. Hank and Leticia discover that their relationship could be more than just the circumstances that brought them together. The bond they develop comes quite unexpectedly for both of them.

The script for “Monster’s Ball” was written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos, two first-time screenwriters. This is a fine first effort, as they give us a riveting portrait of two people who find room in their lives for something other than hatred and self-loathing. In fact, both Hank and Leticia start to change the way they’ve been behaving without ever wondering why out loud. Certain scenes even symbolize the change, such as the ones where Hank has to clean off blood from his car and his living room, or the one where Leticia accidentally pours coffee into a cup until it overflows. I do wish, though, other things had been more clearly explained, such as the decision by Hank to buy a service station, yet he calls on a neighbor to tune up and wash his son’s pick-up truck. Director Marc Forster paces the film slowly, as one event after another registers in the minds of the main characters. Each event leads to rewards that surprise both Hank and Leticia. I became more and more interested in what they’d learn next.

I enjoyed all of the performances, especially Thornton and Berry. Thornton, who has developed an impressive resume of lead and supporting performances in recent years, adds another one here as Hank. Hank’s a restless spirit desperately seeking rest, as illustrated in the opening credits of the movie, where he lies awake in his bed. He is nearly consumed by all the negatives until he learns to address them in a constructive fashion. Berry has seldom been given the opportunity to work in a film as serious as this one, but she proves she’s up to the task of portraying a deeply troubled character such as Leticia. She has, in essence, been a single parent, and she shows the toll it’s taken on her. Boyle and Ledger add fine support as Hank’s father and son. As hardened as the Grotowski men might seem to be, all of them show their vulnerability in one way or another.

“Monster’s Ball” shows the many sorts of monsters life can create. None of us likes monsters, except, perhaps, for other monsters. It’s a sad life for those people who live in ignorance of the good in others, no matter how different they may be. “Monster’s Ball” shows how sad such a ball can be, and how any monster’s ball is, in fact, a prison. Hank and Leticia escape from their prisons, and get lessons about the good they had not seen.

(In a somewhat related note, all of us who are fans of film criticism are wishing a speedy recovery to Roger Ebert, who underwent cancer surgery on Friday. His wife, Chaz, has suggested that a good way to keep her husband in mind at this time is to take in a movie, especially one that has received a thumbs up from him. “Monster’s Ball” is the film that Ebert named as his favorite of 2001. It wouldn’t hurt to say a prayer as well.)

Recommended: Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age