IN "MONSTER'S Ball," Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs) is sentenced to death by electrocution. Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), a guard at this Georgia penitentiary, has to ensure that Lawrence's final walk to the chair is smooth and hysteria-free.
One is on death row. The other stands to live long after this execution. But Lawrence, who has been awaiting the chair for 11 years, may have the better deal. At least he's bound for eternal rest. Hank is a prisoner of hatred, caught in a family cycle of virulent animosity.
Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton star in "Monster's Ball."
(Lions Gate Films)
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Hank's father, Buck (Peter Boyle), who also served on the "death team," hates African Americans. And Hank, who lives with his father and his son, Sonny (Heath Ledger), is no slouch when it comes to upholding tradition. When two young black kids enter his property, he's quick on the scene, shotgun in hand.
Hatred seems to flow through Hank's veins – for blacks, for his own adult son, for everyone. His only passion seems to be for the perfect choreography of the executions.
Sonny, who also works as a guard, is a Grotowski of a different order. He's a friend of the two "trespassers." And he treats Lawrence with tenderness until his final day.
But when Lawrence is due to be executed, Sonny's nervousness betrays him. He vomits in full view of the prisoner. Hank is so enraged by this disruption that he attacks his own son. Their scuffle sets the stage for a tragic outcome and Hank's slow, painful transformation from a man of almost terminal rancor to one capable of love.
Still recovering from the terrible episode, Hank, a widower, finds himself attracted to Leticia (Halle Berry), a single mother working the late shift at his favorite diner. She's beautiful, available and African American. We know, from early scenes in the movie, that Leticia is Lawrence's widow. But neither she nor Hank is aware of the macabre connection.
As their relationship gathers steam, the inevitable questions arise. Will Buck find out about this? How will he react? When will the connection with Lawrence come to light? And will this movie, which paints such a hopeless, cynical picture of race relations, shift its perspective radically?
The script, which screenwriters Milo Addica and Will Rokos completed in 1995, launched much interest from such stars as Robert De Niro and Tommy Lee Jones, and directors Sean Penn and Oliver Stone. But according to Addica and Rokos, those would-be productions broke down in the early stages, because of the stars' excessive wage demands and studio requests for softer, commercial revisions to the story.
It's fortunate the writers stuck to their guns. What distinguishes "Monster's Ball," whose title refers to the party wardens throw for prisoners on the eve of execution, is its refreshing lack of Hollywood concessions.
As directed by Swiss native Marc Forster (who made the almost unknown "Everything Put Together"), the movie holds you in thrall from first frame to last. Hatred is hatred unslaked. So is racism, ugliness, love, lust and sorrow. When Leticia beats her teenage child, or makes desperate, drunken love on her sofa, there's something liberating about her directness. It feels real.
Forster's a master of the deft touch, too. When the death team rehearses Lawrence's electrocution, the only black guard on the team sits in the chair, allowing himself to be strapped. There's more racial tension in this subtext than in the movie's most histrionic scenes.
The performances, including Boyle's poisonous show, are riveting. As Hank, Thornton is so understated and assured, he pulls you in. It's a pleasure to hear this Georgia boy tell Leticia: "You sure suck that whiskey down. Lord have mercy." And Berry, whose acting skills have rarely enjoyed the showcasing they deserve, certainly makes her stamp here. Her character's foibles, vulnerability and gutsiness make her an unlikely but somehow perfect partner for Hank.
MONSTER'S BALL (R,108 minutes) – Contains racial epithets, sexual scenes, nudity, obscenity, an electrocution and violence. Area theaters.
